


The Timekeeper's Gambit

by Wat_Are_Dis



Series: Gambit AU [1]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Characters sent through space and time, Domestic Fluff, Drug Use, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Grooming, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced miscarriage, Mentions of Attempted Infanticide, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Not Beta Read, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Coercion, Smut, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 82,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wat_Are_Dis/pseuds/Wat_Are_Dis
Summary: Gambit:NOUNa device, action, or opening remark, typically one entailing a degree of risk, that is calculated to gain an advantage.(in chess) an opening in which a player makes a sacrifice, typically of a pawn, for the sake of some compensating advantage.The Eridians thought they had the advantage, until The Timekeeper began bending the rules of the game. Don't directly interfere with those of the mortal plane. But this game had been played long enough, now was the time to end it. And it starts with bringing in The Keeper's own players, no matter how unwilling they may be.
Relationships: Troy Calypso/Original Character(s)
Series: Gambit AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843591
Comments: 18
Kudos: 103





	1. Prologue: Setting the Board

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 5/31/2020 for spelling and choppiness
> 
> My work is not beta read, sorry.

Spend enough time on Pandora and you'll hear about the Vaults. About the treasures untold that are hidden inside of them. Of the technology that was left behind by a superior, more advanced species. Spend enough time looking into the Vaults, and you'll hear about the Eridians. Their love of knowledge, and their need to be THE superior beings of the Universe pushed them to creating some of the most extrodinary things to exist.

But there are others who are only really hinted at here and there across the galaxies. Beings who existed from the very start of everything. The First Beings, those who would be the very definition of a God. Holding dominion over planes of existence such as time, space, life, and death, their purpose is unknown. Do they have a specific purpose, or do they just do whatever they please?

The Eridians attracted the attention of one of these beings long ago, and called it The Timekeeper. It who holds dominion over Space and Time became an obsession of theirs, wanting control of its power for themselves. Their experiments into creating life drew its attention, but their attempts at capturing The Timekeeper drew its ire.

They wish to try and take a power that does not belong to them? Well, it had been a long time since The Timekeeper got to play games with someone that wasn't one of its bretheren. And it did always enjoy games of strategy and critical thinking. Like chess, it loved playing chess with the universe as the board. The Eridian people had already set up the board and made their first move. The Timekeeper needed to finish setting it's side up however. It still needed a King and a Queen. But there was no rush, The Timekeeper had a feeling how this game would go down.

After all, it has had _eons_ to master such games.


	2. When shit hits the fan, just die already

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why couldn't he just keep his damn mouth shut?

Coming to this god forsaken planet was a mistake. Learning about Pandora from childhood stories and the few ECHO shows they were able to get on Nekrotafeyo didn't help them cope with the real thing. They had only been here a month, and he was ready to call it quits. Between the savage nature of the people, and the savagery of the flora and fauna, Troy was ready to steal a ship if he had to just to go anywhere else at this point.

He flinched hearing another exasperated huff coming from behind him. Tyreen wasn't making this situation any better, she had been complaining for days about him not knowing what he was doing. Why is it all on him anyways? She was the one desperate to leave home, although he can't really blame her. Home stopped being a home a long time ago. He had no regrets leaving, except that they should have planned this all better. Like, having a plan to begin with instead of just winging it.

"Troy. Troy. Troy! Will you just stop already?! Where the hell are we going?! Do you even know?" Tyreen's whining voice was starting to give him a headache. He looked behind him to see she had flopped herself on the ground, and appeared to have no intentions of moving anytime soon.

"Ty, we have to keep moving. It's the middle of the day, it's hot as balls out here, and sitting around in the middle of nowhere is like an invitation to a free dinner for the animals around here. Get up, let's move."

She narrows her eyes at him and scoffs. "If you had a plan, we wouldn't be in this mess would we? Dad always said you never thought things through, and I'd have to pick up your slack. I can see he was right."

"Well then since you've got it all figured out, what should we do Tyreen? You were the one who rushed us here, why Pandora? What was your master plan, that'd we'd land and everything would already be figured out for us? That people would fall at our feet and worship and provide for us because we're Sirens? It sounds like there are other Sirens on the planet, we're not that special! You are so fucking selfish, you barrel headfirst into situations with no regards to anyone else and refuse to take responsibility when you fuck up!"

He stopped himself from saying more, fists clenched and body starting to slightly shake, but he could see that she was pissed. He lamented why he was always the bad guy and braced himself for the onslaught that he just knew was coming.

"You know Troy, you call me selfish, but we _both_ know who the real selfish one is, don't we? Who took all of mom's love and attention? Who is constantly sick and needing someone else to take care of him. Who needs to feed like the _parasite he is_ off of his sister to survive?!! It's not me, and it sure as hell wasn't dad."

This again, he was so sick of hearing himself refered to as a parasite, a leech, a freak. His sister and father had hammered it into his head since mom died that he was unnatural, an aberation, he should be _grateful_ to Tyreen because without her he would have been dead long ago. It's not like he asked for any of this, but everything that goes wrong ends up with them ganging up on him. Troy was hoping that being away from their father would break Tyreen out of that, but it seems she's a daddy's girl through and through.

"At least I don't kill everything I touch Tyreen. At least I didn't have a temper tantrum and kill our mother in a childish fit of rage. You can't even touch plants without killing them. I'm guessing you were hoping to come to a planet full of murderers because it'd be easier for you to fit in."

The look of utter rage she had on her face right then was oddly satisfying. Troy couldn't help but smirk at her, finally getting under her skin for once. And no dad around to back her up and end the fight for her. Sweet sweet justice, he basked in it for a moment, until something in his sister shifted. She stood up straight and calmly compossed, dusting herself off as she eyed him. He felt nervous suddenly, something had changed.

"You know what, I just realized something. I don't need you. I don't need anything from you. But you? You need me to live, and I've just decided I'm washing my hands of my unwanted and unneeded burden. So good luck with getting by on your own, I'm gonna go make something of myself. After all, I'm destined for greatness, since I'm the real Siren. You, you're a joke, a fake." 

He watched her turn and walk off in the opposite direction with a smirk of her own on her face. She was kidding, she had to be. This wasn't the first time she had threatened to ditch him, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Whatever you say Ty, we both know you don't mean it. And we just came from that direction, so when you want to stop your hissy fit and catch up, I'll be waiting for you this way." He turned and kept walking in the direction they had been heading. He was aware from studying a map back at the last settlement they had been in that there were caves around here that were unused at this time of year. Troy figured they could hang out there until it had cooled off more before continuing on. He looked over his shoulder to see Tyreen still going in the other direction, obviously not having come to her senses yet. Let her sulk, she'd see eventually he was right.

* * *

She wasn't coming back. Night had fallen and Troy was starting to panic. She didn't seriously leave him out here to die did she?! No way, there's no way. Maybe she was attacked on her way to him, maybe she was hurt. He dashed out of the cave, trying to get his bearings in the dark and figure out which direction he initially came in. Looking at the ground wasn't helping, it was too dark to see the ground properly. And it was a cloudy night, little to no moonlight. He really should have gotten a flashlight or something, but didn't think he'd be needing one. Tyreen usually manifested a ball of power to use as a light when it got dark. But she wasn't here, he'd need to do something himself.

He focused on his hand, trying to manifest the way Tyreen described doing so. Nothing. He willed himself to do something, a little glow, a spark, anything! Why couldn't he do it?! Troy felt the tell-tale signs of a fit begin. Shit, not now, no no no why why why?! Heading back to the cave he just came from already the dizziness was starting up, blurring his vision. His chest beginning to ache, c'mon just a little further, this can't be happening out in the open. 

He hits the ground when his coughing starts wracking through his body. He tastes copper, _shit it's a really bad one this time._ Trying to drag his body from right out in the open only exhausts him more. He can hear things moving about beyond his sight, possibly predators attracted to the smell of the blood. He can do this, just a little more.

Troy feels heavy and blackness dances on the edge of his vision. His chest feels like it's on fire and drowning at the same time. Damn him, damn his broken body. Damn his sister for walking away. He tried to justify it to himself but he knew. She was gone for good, she left him to die. Without her to give him some of her energy he'd be dead within days, possibly sooner because of the fit, they always weakend him so much.

So he's a goner then. Still, it isn't like he lived a long fufilling life. He's been weak and sick his whole life. The only good thing in his life was his mother, and she died a long time ago. He's had 19 years of hell, does he really wanna live through more? Maybe this is for the best, no one would mourn his loss anyways. Maybe he'd get lucky and end up with mom wherever she went. She believed in an afterlife, so he could see her again if he went there too. It was a strangly comforting thought he had as he slipped into unconciousness.

So why did it make him so sad?


	3. Be careful what you wish for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You might not enjoy what you get

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING
> 
> This chapter has attempted murder of an infant. I will mark the paragraph with a warning so you can skip over it if this makes you uncomfortable.

She was exhausted, between getting up every couple of hours during the night, and the lack of coffee that morning Wynter was surprised she was even functional. She asked him to do one simple thing for her, buy some more coffee grounds for her when he went to the store to get whatever his fancy was this week. Man, she had a really hard time functioning without her sweet sweet morning juice.

A small whimpering noise coming from the bedroom had her jolting back to reality. Right, she was supposed to be doing something productive, not day dreaming. Wyn grabbed the hand towel she had been looking for and headed back to the room, picking up her baby before he could start up with the real fussing.

"Well hello my sleepy boy, you hungry?" She asked with a small smile on her face as she tossed the towel onto her shoulder and adjusted her tank top. She was lucky, Vael was an easy baby for a 3 month old. He was rarely fussy, had no problems latching onto a breast to feed, hell even her labor with him and been easy. 5 1/2 hours from start of contractions to him breathing his first breath, and no tearing or other complications. Wyn supposed it made up for the almost 5 months of horrible morning sickness she'd suffered through. Shuddering at remembering how sick she'd been, and how she'd had to give up coffee and live off of ginger tea. Tea! Tea is for when you're sick, not enjoyment. Well, chai tea was okay. There she goes on a tangent again in her mind, god she was scatterbrained today.

She adjusted herself to a more comfortable position and began to softly sing while her baby ate, just enjoying the moment of bonding between mother and child. Who knew how long the peace would last today. He had come home earlier yesterday in a bad mood and spent the night bitching at her about everything and anything before drinking himself to sleep. Luckily he was gone when she had gotten up for the day. She needed to make her move soon, this wasn't a sustainable environment for her or Vael anymore, it was only a matter of time before her asshole boyfriend snapped. It would be wonderful if she had a support system right now she could look to, but her family were all not an option. No surprise there, raising your child by neglecting them and telling them to figure it out for themselves didn't make a good relationship.

A small hiccup draws her attention down to her son. Looks like he's done feeding for now. Putting him on her shoulder she gets up to slowly walk around, gently patting and rubbing his back. She really needed to get more sleep, dwelling on the past only put her in a grouchy mood. So, looks like going to the store was on the to-do list for today. What else? The house was clean, she wasn't foolish enough to leave it even slightly dirty. Laundry was all done, which is good because she needs to pack more of Vael's cloth diapers in the go bag she'd been discreetly packing for a few weeks. Actually, that should be her focus today, making sure it's fully packed up. 

Walking into the baby's room she puts him down in his bassinet and winds up the mobile before moving over to the changing table. Pulling it aside she pulls out the false back she'd learned how to make using an online tutorial and grabs the backpack out of it. Opening it, Wyn starts going through everything. Some spare clothes for herself and baby, check. Diapers? She quickly grabs a few more from the laundry basket of clean clothes she'd yet to put away and stows them in the bag. Check, what else does she need. There were some washcloths, a few small toys, a blanket. Some granola bars, and some cookies that are supposed to help her produce more breast milk. She was grateful for the recipe for those because she hadn't been able to produce much from the start, and the jerk told her formula was a no go. She had also packed several bottles of water. Overall it looked set up like a diaper bag, her cover for if that jerk ever found it. Buried in the bottom she had a spare phone and charger, and her small Bluetooth speaker. She needed her music, it was one of the few things she was allowed for herself and that speaker had been one of the only things she'd been able to buy for herself with her own money. 

A small pouch sewn into the backpack near the bottom of the back had a fat wad of bills that she'd been saving up here and there, hopefully enough to get some bus tickets to get them the hell out of there. It was figuring out where to go that was holding up them getting out. It seemed like a women's shelter in another town hours away would have an opening for her and Vael soon, it was just waiting to get the call. Re-stowing the bag and putting the changing table back against the wall, she caught her reflection in the mirror on the wall and had to stop. Damn, she looked like shit today. Her chocolate locks hung limply down her back, looks like she'd need to get a haircut soon it was down to her butt again. Pregnancy hormones man, she had a hard time growing out her hair to anywhere past her shoulders, but as soon as she's pregnant her hair and nails wouldn't stop growing.

It was her eyes though that really made her stare. Dark rings under sad looking brown eyes, there in the reflection was a woman who was broken. Skin was looking a bit pale there too, the freckles that dotted over her nose and under her eyes were almost invisible. No wonder the jerk had been particularly upset with her lately. He expected her to present herself a certain way, and was often pissed about how she looked. She already had the tattoos and piercings when he met her, really he shouldn't have been surprised she didn't see the need to change up her looks when they started dating.

Her father hated when she was 16 and got her ears pierced a couple of times, so of course she had both ears covered in metal. He hated when her earrings didn't match since it messed with the symmetry of her face, so of course she wore only hoops in one ear and only studs in the other. He actually smacked her when she got her nose pierced, but it was worth it because he ignored her existence for a whole week.

She met Miguel by complete accident on her 18th birthday, and finding out about her home life he helped her rebel by doing her tattoos for her. It's not like they were trashy anyways, actually she would happily hang them on her wall if he had painted them on a canvas instead of her body and chest. Damn, she should call him soon and let him know she'd be leaving any day now. He wasn't able to take them in, though he would have loved to do so if he could, but she could at least let him know where she would be headed.

Wandering back into the bedroom Wyn figured she should at least get some real clothing on if she was going out today. She grabbed some clothes, and after checking baby to find him asleep, hopped in the shower to give herself a quick wash. Jumping out she threw her hair into a ponytail high on her head and threw on some jeans and a clean tank top. Makeup today? Nah, if anyone sees her out and about looking kinda shitty she'll just point to the baby, should get the message across. Gathering up her wallet and keys, and getting Vael and his things she loads up in the car to get shit done.

Man she hoped she got some good news today.

* * *

He had come home in a foul mood again. Great, another night of yelling at one another. Quickly taking care of baby's needs and getting him to sleep in his bassinet she grabbed the baby monitor clipping it to her waistband and quietly closed the door to his room. Hopefully he'd sleep through it, him crying during a bitchfest would only set off the asshole even more.

Wyn stopped in the doorway to the living room, watching him pace around back and forth, waiting for him to notice her. How the hell did her life get this way? He was so charming and loving when they first started dating. When things seemed to start to sizzle out, he suggested having a baby would bring them closer. She'd believed him, he seemed so excited to have a child. Of course for someone who'd really wanted a baby, he was very hands-off and inattentive to their child. He'd been ecstatic when it was discovered they were having a boy, but seemed pretty put off by the fact that the baby was basically a miniature of herself. And he hadn't been happy when, once again she rejected changing up her appearance to "look more like a proper mother." Nope, not even taking out the snake bites, the seamless hoops were a bitch to put in and take out.

A small growl breaks her out of her musing to see him glaring at her, eyes already tinged red. He'd started drinking early tonight then, must've been upset with her not being here when she got home. After taking her phone and drilling her on where they had been, he'd seemed slightly appeased that she had just been out getting groceries. Her appearance on the other hand had made him snappy. She internally braced herself for his onslaught, praying it wouldn't be too bad tonight.

To her surprise, he simply took a deep breath and asked her how her day had been. What? Where was this coming from? A new tactic perhaps to throw her off and get her to drop her guard. She wasn't falling for it.

"It was alright, finished up with the laundry then went out to get some shopping done. We were running low on some essential groceries."

"Right," he said somewhat sheepishly, "I forgot to get you more coffee. Sorry about that, it's been a rough few weeks at work."

"Um, that's alright, I can survive for one day without it." Wyn states with an unsure tone, reeling over the odd direction the conversation had gone.

"Where's Vael at? Is he sleeping already?"

"Yeah, he should be down for a few more hours. It gives me a few minutes to sit down and unwind at least." She settles herself on the couch, watching him to see him nodding to himself.

"Well you've been very busy, and I'm guessing not getting much sleep. So take a small break, you deserve it." Is tossed out over his shoulder as he leaves the room. What the hell was going on, why was he being so weird? Was he finally coming to his senses? It reminded her of how he used to be, how they used to be. Asking about each other's days, god she'd missed having a normal conversation with no yelling or accusations thrown in. Sighing to herself, she checks that the baby monitor is on and settles into the couch a little more. Then checks it again to make sure it's still on. Light is on, volume is up all the way, why is it so quiet? She places the monitor right next to him so she can hear his breathing. No breathing, why is there no breathing noises? 

**********T/W***********T/W**********T/W*************T/W**********  
Wyn jumps up from the couch running off to Vael's room, hoping that the other monitor just ran out of battery. She stops in the doorway seeing her boyfriend leaning over the bassinet, looks like he was coming to check on him too.

"Is he okay, I couldn't hear anything out of the monitor..." He ignores her, still leaning over the bassinet. A horrible sickly feeling started creeping up her gut, what was he doing?

"Y'know," he starts, "I was so sure that having a baby would snap you out of your nonsense. I figured if you had a child you'd finally comply and start acting and looking like a proper woman. Instead it's made you even MORE defiant, and that is unacceptable. If he can't get you to behave and learn to control yourself, he is useless."

Hearing this snaps something in her, and before she's even aware of it Wyn is charging him, slamming her body into his as hard as she can manage. Knocking him into the wall, she sees the pillow in his hands and sees red. Before he has time to get his bearings she's slamming her elbow as hard as she can manage into his diaphragm and then punches his throat and kicks at his knees when he doubles over. Hitting the ground, she can tell he's alive but isn't moving. Good, murderous fucker. Hearing gasping breathes and stilted cries coming from her son's bassinet sounds like the sweetest music to her in that moment. Moving quickly Wyn grabs baby close and tries to soothe him as she grabs a baby wrap and ties it around her torso. Making sure he's safely secured to her chest, she next yanks the changing table away from the wall and kicks in the false back, grabbing the go bag.  
***********End T/W**************End T/W***********End T/W*************

Dashing out of the house she contemplates for a moment taking one of the cars, but tosses that idea out the window. They're both registered to him and have GPS tracking, he'd find her immediately. Same with her phone, which is why she didn't bother to grab it. Get as far away from here as possible, figure out the other stuff later just get some distance.

Running down the street with no idea of where they're going, Wyn feels panic start to set in. Oh my god, he was going to kill them both. There was no doubt in her mind that if he got ahold of her she'd be dead, she DARED to attack him. Never mind that it was to stop him from murdering their son. No, fuck that, HER son.

"God, gods, somebody. If anybody is listening, if anybody cares, if there's such a thing as divine intervention, please. Please, I am BEGGING with everything that I am, someone help us. Get us as far away from that man as possible. If you won't help me, help save my son at least. He's so young and innocent. Please, please help us!"

She was never a religious person, not believing in depending on others to help you, but in that moment she would sell her soul to a demon if it would get her child to safety. She prayed over and over as she ran, hoping a miracle would happen. She didn't honestly expect for someone to answer her though. It was a shock to see the space directly in front of her rip open a black maw, and her momentum carried her right through it. God dammit. 

* * *

It was nothing but darkness everywhere. Floating around unable to see anything that wasn't directly in front of her face was disconcerting to say the least. Total silence, a numbness began to settle over her person, something was very wrong here. What the hell was that rip? Was she swallowed up by a black hole? Why wasn't she dead yet? Or, was she? Looking around didn't help her figure anything out, so she looked down. Vael was wide awake, looking utterly terrified and like he was going to cry. She didn't blame him, she wanted to cry too. She tried to tell him it'd be okay, but no sound came out of her mouth. 

The numbness had settled into her arms by now and was continuing down her body. Good thing she'd decided the baby wrap would be more secure than just carrying him in her arms, Wyn would have dropped him by now otherwise. Following the numbing sensation she starts to feel a small burning, tugging sensation popping up in different parts of her body. Trying to look around her immediate person, she still can't see anything, but she can feel the burning getting more intense. Sharp pains start up with the tugging becoming more insistent. What was happening?

Vael starts to squirm and flail his limbs around, mouth open in soundless screams. Shit, he feels it too! Trying to get control of her arms so she can hold him, Wyn notices that not only can she not command her arms to move, she can't feel them there at all anymore. She feels nothing but building pain.

It stops for a moment before what sounds like a hum of consideration breaks the silence, then all hell breaks loose. Blistering agony rips her body apart, this must be what it feels like to be pulled to pieces while being set on fire. She can't breathe, she can't feel her body, she can't see anything except empty blackness.

There's no concept of time here. They could have been there for days, months, years and Wyn would have no idea. All she was aware of was how intense the pain was, and how it was slowly tapering off. The hallucinations were starting up, Wyn was so sure she could finally see a light. Maybe it was the way to the afterlife, all the movies had people saying not to go to the light if you didn't want to die. But if it would stop what she was feeling right now she'd gladly go. 

Just before reaching the light the strangest sensation entered her head. The only way she could describe it was like a hand grabbing her brain and yanking it. She finally fell into unconsciousness at that point, unaware they'd finally fallen out of the void.

* * *

Screaming cries pulled her out of her impromptu nap, ah the sound was back on. Blinking rapidly to clear the blurriness out of her eyes she brought her arms up around Vael, able to feel her body again. Making shushing noises, Wyn takes a look around. Where did that thing spit them out? She doesn't recognize her surroundings whatsoever, but sees a building not too far from her spot. Maybe someone could tell her where she is. Checking over her person, she's pleased to discover her backpack was still safely secured to her back. Hobbling to her feet, once she's steady she starts to book it for the building in the distance. The sun is starting to set, she'd rather get there quickly before she loses the light and loses her way.

Coming upon the structure she notices it's a run down motel. Okay, not the nicest of places, but someone must be running the place right? Walking around, it looks like it's been abandoned. Boarded up doors and windows, broken down cars, and is that a bus? A glow catches the corner of her eye. Vending machines! Nice, she didn't have much of anything in way of food packed. Trotting over, the grin drops from her face. Guns? Why would there be a vending machine for guns? And ammo? Yeah, there was the whole right to bear arms amendment, but Wyn didn't think anyone would take it this far. Was this even legal? Poking around at the machine, a white square with a handprint popped up. Holographic technology? What?

Shaking her head she heads towards what looks like was the main office, hoping to find a map or some other clue inside, only to slam the door closed after peeking her head in. So. Much. Blood. Okay, it's become obvious why this place was abandoned, there was a horrific murder here. Many businesses have problems staying open after receiving a slaughterhouse reputation. Inching along the wall, she tries the doors she passes, finally finding one that's somewhat loose. Pushing her weight against the door she falls into the room, quickly catching herself before she hits the floor. Dusty, but overall clean, it has a mini kitchen area, a small bathroom, and a bed so that's something.

Wyn drags the bedding outside, putting Vael down carefully on the floor of the room before going back out to beat as much of the dust out of it that she can. Dragging it back in after giving it a good beating is somewhat satisfying. Getting baby boy off the floor to change his diaper and get him ready for a feeding, she finally takes a good look at him. What the fuck happened to her son?! He looked so...different. His peaches and cream skin complexion is now so pale his skin is almost white. And speaking of white, his curly hair, so much like her own, is white like fresh snow. Seeing him staring at her as if to ask what was wrong, she noticed his eyes even looked different. His eyes had been a dark brown like hers, now were a pale blue, green? She couldn't quite tell it seemed to change with the lighting.

Quickly taking care of his diaper, she puts the soiled one in the sink in the little bathroom, hoping the water was working in this place. Small miracles, the water works, though isn't exactly clear. Wyn decides to let it run for a bit, see if it clears up some. Looking in the mirror above the sink she pauses shocked. Vael wasn't the only one who looked different it seemed. Same changes to her, her long hair snowy white, skin super pale, eyes much lighter. If she didn't know better Wyn would swear she was an albino. What caused this? Curious at the white hair, she checks her whole body over. Yup, white hair everywhere, except her eyelashes were still black. Weird that even lower body hair had changed color, must be permanent.

Maybe the trauma of whatever their bodies had been put through had leeched most of the color out? She'd heard of people getting hit in the head with lightning and it causing their hair to go white.

Huffing to herself, Wyn decides that this is too much to figure out tonight. Turning off the water, she trudges her way over to the backpack, opening it to grab a granola bar. Bile kept wanting to rise up her throat, but she choked it down as she forced herself to eat, tying Vael back to her chest after she was done and readjusting her shirt so he could feed. They both needed the comfort tonight, she might even do some skin-to-skin with him.

Hopefully she'd be able to get some answers in the morning of where exactly they had ended up.


	4. A whole new world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So where the fuck is my flying carpet?

Wynter had been unable to sleep most of the night. Every time sleep would take over, the bad memories would invade her brain. After the fourth time of jerking awake panting and frantically looking around, she decided sleep wasn't going to happen for her. So she spent her time staring at the door, waiting for the murderous fuck to come charging through to kill them. Having pushed a dresser in front of the door had helped calm her slightly, but she couldn't shake off the fear. 

Wyn gently placed Vael down in the middle of the bed, his own sleep fitful as he made unhappy whimpers here and there. He stayed asleep though, which was the important thing. Little guy needed as much rest as he could get, and she needed a little time to herself. Pushing furniture up against the walls as much as she could, Wyn pulled her extra phone and speaker out of the backpack getting it set up, and finding her yoga playlist. Soft soothing music starts playing as she lays a blanket on the floor and gets herself into the first yoga pose in her routine.

It was a habit she had picked up while pregnant to help her keep her stress down, and keep up flexibility in her body. Once she was able to move comfortably after giving birth she picked it up again, adding in some smaller exercises to help tighten and strengthen her core. It was slowly helping to bring down her anxiety as her body relaxed and dropped itself out of its fight-or-flight response.

Looking over at Vael every now and then, she noticed that he seemed to be relaxing as well, falling into a deeper and more restful sleep, a small smile on his face. God, she needed to get a better hold on herself, he was probably picking up on what she was feeling and it was adding to his own anxiety. Wyn felt a twinge of guilt at the thought, promising herself that she'd do better, BE better. After all, she had already failed him and he nearly died because of her incompetence.

Her mother's words echoed in her head in that moment, warning her that being in an abusive relationship wouldn't matter to anybody in law enforcement if she didn't have definitive proof of there being abuse. Well, mom would know, after all she'd been in an abusive marriage. And dad knew how to hit someone without leaving any marks.

Shaking her head to try and chase away nasty thoughts that didn't want to seem to let her go, Wyn moves into her final poses. She does her best to empty her mind and focus on her breathing and what her body is doing. The music changes to something a little more upbeat, and a small smile finds its way onto her face.

Feeling much better and more awake, Wyn turns off the speaker and phone and puts them away while grabbing the tupperware of cookies. Munching away at one, she moves into the bathroom to look around at what all was in there. A couple of towels that look sort of ratty, but clean enough. No soap, that's pretty depressing. There was a smaller bottle of tear-free baby shampoo in the bag, but she didn't want to use that for herself.

Moving the dresser away from the door, Wyn peeks her head out to see the sun just starting to rise in the sky. Slipping out of the room and quietly closing the door she decides to break the window for the next room and hop in, hoping to find something of use. A small cheer slips past her lips at finding a bar of soap in the room, and what looked to be a hunting knife sticking out of the table top. She jimmies it loose and takes it, a knife could be used for a multitude of purposes.

Sneaking back into her room to find baby still asleep, Wyn starts getting things out to get them ready for the day. "Today will be a better day baby boy." She softly proclaims towards her son before moving into the bathroom to fill the tub. They were gonna get ready for the day, and she was going to figure out where they were one way or another.

* * *

"Now how the hell does this thing work?" Wyn asked herself as she stared at the vending machine in front of her. Deciding to explore the motel they were living at currently, she was pleased to discover the name of the place, even if it was strange. Someone must have really loved pigs. Breaking into yet another room had also yielded some results. They were in a place called Three Horns Valley, now if she could get a damn signal on her phone she could call someone for help. But no matter what she did, she couldn't even get a call through to 911.

Ditching the idea of calling for help for the time being, Wyn had wandered back over to the machines she'd seen the night before. Again, a square with a handprint had pop into existence out of seemingly nowhere. Trying to interreact with it gleaned no results however.

"What do you think Vael, should I try to break it open? A pistol might not be that bad of an idea to have, and I've shot one at a range a few times." Looking down at him, his response to her stupid question is to blink somewhat sleepily at her and continue sucking on his pacifier.

Wyn took that as confirmation to proceed with her act of vandalism.

Digging about the broken down vehicles and piles of garbage, she finally found a crowbar that wasn't too rusted up or bent. Returning to the "Guns" machine she felt along the edges of it for the seam. Finding it, a few jabbing thrusts with the crowbar lodge it into the small gap. Slowly applying her weight against the bar, she pushes and wiggles it around. Creaking noises encourage her to continue, and several minutes later the front of the machine pops open.

Making happy noises and doing a tiny victory dance, Wyn pulls the face open seeing several types of guns lying inside. Spotting a hand pistol near the top, she pulls it down and looks it over. Shouldn't be too difficult to handle, although, holding it makes her fingers tingle a little bit. Whatever, a gun is a gun. Grabbing the crowbar back up she proceeds to open the "Ammo" machine in the same matter, and grabs up a handful of pistol ammo. Pulling off her backpack, she starts stuffing the ammo into the pouches on the side but pauses as some small round thing falls out and bumps against her foot. Crouching down to get a better look, Wyn jumps back with a squawk when she realizes it's a grenade. A motherfucking honest to god grenade. WHY?!

Scurrying away from it like she expected it to go off at any moment, Wyn heads over to the last machine she had found that morning. A vending machine with medicine in it, brilliant idea really. Horribly suspicious however, it was more likely to be filled with drugs instead of life saving medicine. There was no way anybody was generous enough to give away actual medicine for cheap, otherwise hospitals and pharmacies would go out of business. Still, it never hurt to take a look maybe there'd be a mini first aid kit inside.

Popping it open it's discovered that there are mostly disk shaped things inside. Grabbing one with a little green glow to it, Wyn looks it over carefully. It's slightly warm in her hands, and she sees a small clip on the back of it similar to what the baby monitor had had. So, something to wear then. Maybe a mini heater? Shrugging, she clips it to her right hip and reaches in to grab a glowing red tube. Pulling it out, Wyn almost jabs herself with the needle on the end that she hadn't initially noticed. Yeah, gotta be drugs of some sort. Still, until she knew what it was she'd hold on to it, it could be valuable. Taking off the backpack once again, she pulls out one of the towels inside and carefully wraps the tube inside of it, then wraps that inside of yet another towel and stows it away.

Head looking to the left, then the right, there doesn't appear to be much of anything else out here. The sun is nearly directly overhead, must be close to noon. It's beginning to get hot, probably a good idea to hang out in the room for a while. Trudging back whistling a children's song to herself, Wyn feels better than she had in a long time. It'd be nice if this lasted.

* * *

After a long afternoon nap with baby, and a quick wipe down with some cool water for the both of them after waking, exploring a little ways past the motel was in order. Checking for the third time that the pistol was loaded and Vael was secured to her chest, Wyn began her exploration at the weird machine next to the entrance of the motel. Poking it with a stick she'd found didn't seem to do anything to it. Nudging it with her foot didn't either. Talking to it just made her feel stupid, but hey it could've been voice activated! She resorted to tossing rocks at it out of boredom. Why was vandalism so fun? Shrugging Wyn started walking towards another steam pump she could see a short ways away. She had walked for about a minute before stopping herself in confusion. Was that a dead animal? 

Creeping a little closer, she poked it quickly with the stick. What the hell kind of animal was this? It looked like it had had a bad case of mange, and the tire tracks around it's body told a story of a bad run-in with a vehicle. It probably got caught under the tires and that's why it looks so fucked up. She pushed the body around a little more with the stick, trying to figure out what it was. A dog maybe? It had a certain canine quality to it. Poor dog, she was always a sucker for them. Walker closer, Wyn leans over a little more to look at its face. Prying its mouth open is sort of difficult, but she's able to do so only to have it's whole face split open. Ergh, yeah there's no way to identify what breed it had been.

Pity and sadness fill up her heart, she really hoped it didn't have an owner looking for it. Prodding around at its neck she can't find a collar. A stray then, still sad but at least there wouldn't be a heartbroken person looking for poor dead Spot. A growling bark off to her left startles her out of her pity party.

An angry growling...something is staring her down. Brown skin stretched tight across a bony frame, and a split face with a long tongue slightly hanging out, it was one of the strangest creatures she'd ever seen. Looking at it, and looking at the dead animal she finally realizes they're the same species. Her stomach gives a small lurch at how unnatural they are.

The angry dog thing begins to approach her, almost in a stalking motion. Oh shit it's hunting them. Fumbling with the pistol in her hand she raises it with her right hand and uses her left to try and push Vael's head against her chest as much as possible. Wyn doesn't want him to see this if she has to shoot it, and she wants to be able to cover his ears.

It's picking up speed now and there's no doubt in her mind it's kill or be killed. She pulls the trigger and nearly drops the gun in surprise when a blue bolt of electricity pops out of it at high speed and hits the mutant dog in the leg. It yelps out in pain and surprise, shaking it's injured leg before running at her at top speed.

Aiming the weapon again she pulls the trigger a few more times, missing two of the shots but the third one manages to hit it in its open maw. It rears its head back with a yowl of pain and Wyn takes the opportunity to turn and run back towards the motel. She can hear its angry whimpering and howling, but it doesn't sound like it's chasing her. Not risking to slow down to look she books it straight for their room, pulling the door open quickly and slamming it shut immediately. Pushing the dresser back in front of the door seems like a good idea right now.

Wyn piles as much of the furniture as she's able to against the door then flops down on the bed shaking. She carefully places the pistol on the floor next to her and stares at it as if it's got the answers to all of life's questions.

Vael begins to fuss, being jostled around by her running around seems to have put him in a bad mood. Unwrapping him, Wyn holds him against her chest and runs her hands lightly over his head and up and down his back.

"Sorry baby boy, didn't mean to shake you up so much. That mutant dog thing just came out of nowhere and decided we looked like lunch. Or thought we killed it's friend and wanted revenge. Maybe it got pissed I was poking it with a stick. Oh no, I dropped my stick! Ah man, it was a really good one too."

Vael is oblivious to her whining, simply content with getting some proper attention in the moment.

Getting over her sad moment, "stick you will be missed," she starts to hum and rock herself back and forth to some nonsense tune that popped into her head. Vael gives a small noise of content and starts lightly tugging on her hair. Oh yeah she should probably tie that back. Placing him down on the bed she sticks his pacifier in his mouth and gathers up her hair to start braiding. The normal repetitive motions distract her from the anxiety attack that's trying to creep up on her.

While braiding, Wyn happens to notice for the first time a small glow coming off her left arm. Halting her motions she stares in disbelief. What was happening now?! Putting her arm closer to her face she can see an intricate but delicate looking tattoo decorating the whole thing. Silver in color, it looks like thin vines or filigree swirling across her skin. Getting up quickly she runs into the bathroom and looks at it in the mirror. It covers more than just her arm, she leans in closer to see it goes up her neck and stops at her jawline just behind her left ear. Lifting her arm, Wyn notices it wraps around the whole thing, and crawls down her entire left side. Removing her pants she can even see it goes all the way down to her foot, partially winding around her ankle and over the top and bottom of her foot.

It's weird, but pretty. Honestly it's the least disturbing change to her appearance, Wyn could see herself getting something like this done anyways. Although, the random knots scattered throughout the vines kind of bug her. She sits partially on the sink trying to get her skin as close as possible to get a better look at one of the knots. A small "wow" is breathed out when she notices it's a star. All of them are little stars.

Her breath catches in her throat when she sees her upper arm properly near her shoulder joint. A crescent moon smiles back at her, making her tear up.

Wyn had always had a love for the night sky. When she was a little girl and having a hard time sleeping, whether due to her parents yelling at each other or her hungry belly rumbling, she'd slip out of her bedroom window and climb the large willow tree in their backyard and stare at the sky. The millions of stars twinkling was beautiful, but her favorite thing was the moon. The moon was dependable, the moon was always there. Even those nights when she couldn't see it, she knew it was still up in the sky watching over her. And sometimes she'd be lucky and the moon would look like a large smiling mouth, she'd think it was the night sky happy to see her. Those sleepless nights were spent talking to the moon and the stars about her hopes and dreams, her fears and her sadness. She had vowed that when she grew up she'd be an astronomer and learn everything there was to learn about her friends. She felt a little less lonely at night.

Wiping her eyes clear of the tears, Wyn puts her pants back on and goes back to her baby. Picking him up she starts softly singing "Blue Moon" to him, lightly dancing around the room in beat with the song. They may have ended up in a strange situation, but she was hopeful. They'd be okay, after all, she was sure the moon was still watching over her.

She spent the rest of the evening before bed singing and dancing around with her son, occasionally playing something from her phone. Tonight she was determined to be as relaxed as possible before bed so that she'd be able to sleep properly.

* * *

Mac was worn out, he'd been up for almost three days with little to no sleep in order to do this supply run for the Commander. Luckily Harvey was in the mood to drive, unluckily Harvey was a terrible driver so any thoughts of catching some zzz's was tossed. Urp, speaking of tossed, Mac was about to toss his cookies. Did Harvey really have to try and hit everything that ran in front of their Technical?!

"Hey boss, we're coming up on the Happy Pig soon, do you want me to stop so we can resupply?"

Oh thank god, a chance to escape! "Yeah, may as well. We still have a little ways to go to get back to HQ, who knows what we'll run into on the way. It'd be good to be stocked up with ammo at least."

Nodding in agreement, Harvey suddenly makes a sharp turn. A loud yelp and crunching tells Mac the skag that he swerved to hit had been successfully ran over. What was this guy's problem?

Ten minutes later they had pulled up to the Happy Pig Catch-A-Ride, and Mac could have kissed the ground if he wasn't so busy covering it in vomit. Fuck that, he was driving after this. Tired or not, the nausea he was currently feeling would for sure keep him awake.

"Hey boss, come check this out! Someone messed up the machines here!" He hears his partner yell over by the "Guns" vending machine. What is he on about, it couldn't be that bad. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Mac grimaces at the mess he'd made before shuffling over to Harvey. And stops to stare with wide eyes. Oh boy, Marcus was NOT going to be happy that someone had jimmied open his machines. He frowns, maybe he could get away with not putting this in the report. Mac wasn't looking forward to being sent out to hunt down whoever was responsible.

"Who do you think would do this? I mean, this is basically suicide isn't it boss" Harvey asks as he taps at a grenade on the ground with his foot. Fucking idiot is gonna blow his damn leg off.

"I don't know, and I don't care. I'm not putting this in the report, not interested in going on any wild goose chas-" Mac suddenly stops himself when a small cry breaks the silence around them. Pulling out his rifle, he puts a finger to his lips and motions with his head for Harvey to check the perimeter to the left while he goes right. Harvey nods once, a serious look on his face and his own rifle drawn.

Moving slowly in a crouched position, Mac creeps over to the bus looking to get some cover, ears open. There! Another small cry comes from one of the rooms of the motel. He quietly inches his way over, it could simply be a skag they were plentiful in the area. But the cry sounded off.

Making it to the door, he attempts to push it open only for it to catch on something. Mac throws his weight against the door, feeling it start to give. He can hear frantic movements inside, encouraging him to push against the door harder. Something or someone was inside and he was going to find out who and why.

A final push and the door gives, he falls into the room and feels a bolt of electricity whiz over his head. Shit, a person for sure! Raising his rifle as he gets into a kneeling position, he's barely able to stop himself from pulling the trigger. A woman is ducked behind the overturned bed, pistol aimed at him and a terrified but defiant look on her face. Well, shit. Putting his gun down, he raises his hands to show he's unarmed and not going to hurt her.

"Hello ma'am, my name is Lt. Mac Daniels with the Crimson Raiders. I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, I just heard some crying and came to investigate. Are you alright, are you hurt?"

She keeps her gun aimed at him but lowers it slightly. She eyes him suspiciously as she studies him. Mac keeps himself calm and relaxed, he's no threat to her.

"Who are the Crimson Raiders? Where am I exactly?" 

What kind of questions is she asking? The Raiders had advertisements everywhere for recruitment, how could she not know who they are? As for where she is...

"You're at the Happy Pig Motel in Three Horns Valley ma'am. The Crimson Raiders are a group of adventurers with people from all walks of life. We take in those who don't have anywhere else to go and help them make something of themselves. We are lead by Commander Lilith, a Vault Hunter and a Siren."

A small frown forms on the woman's face, a look of confusing starting to mar her features. She opens her mouth to speak but is stopped by a small cry coming from around her chest area. Hell, he'd almost shot a woman with a baby on her. A very young one at that he'd guess based off of how small it was. Why was she out here by herself with a baby.

She makes small shushing noises at the baby as she continues to eye him. He hears a rumbling noise and notices a small blush brush across her face as she twitches in clear embarrassment. Aw, that was kinda cute.

"Ma'am, do you have anywhere to go? Maybe you and the baby should come back with us." He offers, only to see her frantically shaking her head. "I promise it won't be a problem."

"I can't, I don't have any way of paying you back for your help. I just need some information and I can be on my way. What state are we in? What country? I'm not exactly sure how we got here, but getting back will be easier once I know where I am."

State? Country? What was she talking about? "Ma'am, I'm not sure what planet you came from, but here on Pandora we don't divide the areas by state or country. Territory sure, but that's about it."

"Planet? Pandora, we're on a planet called Pandora?" The little color she had in her face seemed to just disappear. Hoo boy, this was getting complicated. Mac's knees were starting to ache from kneeling on them for so long.

"Ma'am, my knees hurt, and my partner and I are expected to return to HQ soon. You can either come with us or stay here, the choice is yours. I won't try to force your hand. But can you and your baby last much longer out here on your own? You seem to be quite lost, it would be safer to be somewhere with access to food and you'd be safer with others to watch your back. But you need to decide now."

Grabbing his gun, he pulls himself up to his feet and watches her for a moment, before turning to head back out the door. Hearing hurried movements behind him, he stops and looks over his shoulder. She slings a pack onto her back and nods to him to keep moving.

"May I ask your name miss? I can't keep calling you ma'am and miss all the time after all."

"My name is Wynter Dova. My son is Vael. Um, thank you for taking us in. I'll find a way to pay your Crimson Raiders back somehow."

Seeing Harvey standing impatiently by the car, he waves to him as he approaches and signals him to keep quiet. No point letting the idiot run his mouth.

"Pleasure to meet you Wynter, it'll take us about an hour to get to HQ so just hop in the back and strap yourself in and try to get comfy. Harvey, this is Miss Dova and her son, they'll be returning to HQ with us. Behave yourself and get in."

Wynter carefully climbs into the back, clipping on the safety belt and nervously wrapping her arms around the baby on her chest. She looked to be on the verge of crying. He starts up the engine and pulls out of the Catch-A-Ride, shooting a look at his partner when he opens his mouth to say something. It's quiet for a time before he hears her humming a song he's never heard. Mac can catch the occasional lyrics here and there, he's pretty sure he hears her singing about a whole new world. He's pretty confused by the last thing he hears her say before she falls silent.

"So where the fuck is my flying carpet huh?"


	5. When I first met you...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I thought you were a dead body, sorry

Being around so many people was uncomfortable. She had always been a bit of a shut in, making friends was difficult for her and she wasn't allowed to have anyone come over to play. Not that she'd want anyone to come to her home, her parents were a nightmare. All of the yelling and breaking of furniture, the holes in the walls and the bruises on her and mom's bodies; Wyn hadn't wanted to subject herself to the questions and worry it would bring up. Being a loner was easier, no one to question why she'd hoard food unaware that there wasn't usually much at home. Why she flinched away from loud people and noises. Why she wanted to so desperately rebel, to be her own person.

The Crimson Raiders didn't seem like a bad bunch really, but the group as a whole was so LOUD and boisterous. She already had a pretty bad headache from caffeine withdrawals, the overall atmosphere of HQ was making it worse.

Having been brought in during the middle of the night, Wyn and Vael had been quietly rushed to a spare cot that was available by Lt. Daniels and told to wait for him in the morning so he could introduce her to the Commander and show her around. She had felt a little shell-shocked and complied without question; emotionally and physically drained sleep had found her quite easily.

Meeting the Commander the next morning had been less nerve-wracking than expected. Commander Lilith was a seemingly kind woman who gave off a feeling of some hidden power. She had simply welcomed them and suggested if Wyn needed some help with Vael to speak to a woman named Moxxi, who had raised children of her own and would know best how to help her. And then had sent her on her way as others were filing in for a meeting, shooting them quick looks of curiosity then disinterest.

It was all very anti-climatic, which was a relief. Walking around trying to learn her surroundings wasn't unfortunately. There were so many people who would stop what they were doing to stare, and Wyn could feel the embarrassment burning her face. 

She wanted to cry when she found out that Moxxi ran a busy bar, so she'd have to endure drunken stares and comments in order to speak to the woman. Still, it would be nice to get some advice from someone who'd been there done that, so Wyn pushed through her discomfort and made her way to Moxxi's counter. 

After spending a couple of hours sitting at the bar speaking to her, Wyn couldn't help but feel like this was what her own mother should've been like. Moxxi's attention had immediately snapped to them upon approaching her, and she'd been able to put two-and-two together after only a few seconds of studying the mother and child. Wyn had been given a look of understanding that almost made her fragile emotions snap, and been offered to take the baby for a little while so the young mother could try to unwind.

The fact that Moxxi holding a cute baby on her hip while working seemed to add even more tips to her tip jar than what she normally brought in was an added bonus.

Vael seemed to soak up the attention, even if he was mostly shy about it and kept hiding his face in her neck. One of the bar patrons actually cooed over it.

The whole situation made Wyn both happy and bitter. She was so happy that someone was willing to give Vael the positive attention he needed, but was bitter that someone who was basically a complete stranger had more genuine interest in him than her own mother had. When telling her parents about her pregnancy, Wyn was hopeful that they would want to try and build a relationship with their only child. Their continued disinterest in her nipped that in the bud.

Not that it should have been a surprise, their resentment of her existence had been known to her basically her whole life. Her parents had wanted a son, so were naturally disappointed in her being female. That had apparently been forgivable at the time though since they could always try for a son later, and mom would have a little girl to dress up and show off. Complications during her birth resulted in her mother having to get an emergency hysterectomy, and their dreams of ever having a son were gone. The resentment evolved into doing the absolute bare minimum to keep her alive. When she was old enough they signed her up for as many activities as possible to get her out of the way. Piano and singing lessons, an archery club when she started middle school that lasted even after she'd graduated high school, anything and everything that they could think of. Of course they never came to any of her recitals or tournaments, they didn't care what she did as long as they didn't have to see her.

Moxxi however, Wyn could tell by the way she talked about raising her children and how she handled Vael that Moxxi loved her children very much. She was proud of her children and their accomplishments, was saddened by the loss of her son. She gave a damn, and that was what made Wyn feel a bitterness in her gut. But she wouldn't let it taint the feeble beginnings of a relationship with her.

Lt. Daniels had found them there later, and had taken her to her temporary quarters. Lilith was trying to figure out rooming arrangements that would be more permanent, so until then she got a small room not too far from Moxxi's bar. Not that she was complaining, her and baby boy had their own room with a small bathroom attached and a lock on her door. Privacy was a privilege, not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

* * *

Wyn set out the following day to introduce herself to Ellie. Not only was she wanting to meet the woman because of how everyone gushed about how great she was, but Wyn was hoping Ellie would be able to explain how things worked on Pandora. She had about half the battery life left on her phone and speaker, but couldn't find any wall sockets to plug the charger into. And she didn't want to ask anyone else and get more stares and weird looks than she already did. Asking Moxxi had been her first thought, but there was always so many people at her bar.

It was well after lunch time when she got the courage to approach the boisterous woman. Her initial questions had resulted in Ellie laughing at her until she realized that Wyn was serious about not knowing anything. A blatant look of pity was shot at her that caused her stomach to roil and twist in anger and embarrassment, but Ellie simply began answering her questions with no additional comments. Discussions about everyday life on Pandora resulted in the discovery that she didn't have an ECHO device, and an ECHO was needed to interact with most everything. It was why none of the machines at the Happy Pig had worked for her.

Learning about how most everything was digitized and stored on one device was fascinating. The fact that you could store something as large as a vehicle onto a database and essentially summon it anywhere blew her mind.

So maybe Pandora wasn't so bad.

Ellie told her she'd tinker around and see if she couldn't make something that could charge her phone, which led into a discussion about what all she could create. Cars were her forte, but she'd tinkered with smaller projects here and there.

When asked about her hobbies, Wyn told her about how she had been really into archery before having Vael, having competed and won many competitions with her club. The look of surprise for using such a primitive weapon had made Wyn laugh for the first time in days, and lead to an in depth discussion about bow designs.

Ellie had an absolutely beautiful compound bow delivered to her room a week later. She wasn't sure what exactly it was made out of, but it was a sleek black and had a small delicate vine pattern that was similar to the marks on her arm adorned on it. They were purple and glowed slightly, and holding the bow made her arm tingle but felt so right. She named it The Gimli 2.0 after her own bow that had been left behind. Her archery club had thought it hilarious to nickname her Legolas, so she just rolled with it. And Legolas needed his dwarf so it had been a fitting name in her opinion.

Wyn had borrowed Moxxi's kitchen behind her bar and made snickerdoodle cookies as a thank you and left them on Ellie's workbench, being too embarrassed and emotional to give them face-to-face.

With a weapon she knew how to use, Wyn could finally be useful instead of a charity case. She hadn't been asked to do anything, or pay anyone back, but being in someone's debt was NOT an option for her. After enough needling and begging, Wyn was allowed to go on short scouting missions and perimeter watches. 

She also worked on her moving target practice hunting rakks and skags for fresh meat, even if it made her want to vomit doing so. However if it was eat or starve, she'd shut her damn mouth and be grateful for anything edible she could get. After all, Wyn needed to eat to produce breast milk so that Vael could eat. There wasn't an option to be picky when someone else depended on her to survive.

The fact that any meat she brought in or shift she took got her a small payment for her work made her uncomfortable initially. Having to special order some supplies for herself and baby kept her from complaining about it, the Raiders were already doing so much for them, there was no way she was going to ask them to pay to have baby clothes and their other needs seen to. She had an account set up on the ECHOnet and was able to order things online and have them dropped off at one of the supply drops that the Raiders frequently used.

Since baby things were kind of pricey, Wyn took to running around as a messenger girl to bring in a little bit of extra scratch. It helped her to familiarize herself and grow comfortable in her new home at least. Before long they had been with the Raiders for a month and a daily routine had been established. It helped keep her anxiety and panic attacks at bay, helped her and her son to thrive.

Wyn still shied away from most people, as did Vael, but it felt like they were home for the first time ever.

* * *

The day had started out normal enough. Wyn had gotten up to do her morning yoga routine, then got both her and Vael bathed and dressed for the day and over to the mess hall for breakfast. A quick trip over to the assignments desk to see if they had anything she could tag along for, or any deliveries for her. Being given the task of messenger girl for the day, Wyn dropped Vael and a small bag of supplies and pumped milk off with Moxxi and began her day of running about all over the place. It was mid-afternoon when a commotion started up near the entrance to HQ, however, since no back up was called and no shots were fired, the commotion was quickly forgotten. Probably some of the guys getting bored and blowing off steam with stupid fights again.

She shrugged it off completely and continued her running about, skillfully avoiding the CL4P-TP unit that seemed to always want to talk to her. One time, _one time_ she stopped what she was doing to speak with it, and it had rambled at her for _HOURS._ Never again, she had been lucky to escape with her sanity when she'd been called away to report to Mac (he finally got around to telling her to call him by his first name). 

He hadn't needed anything, he was just trying to help her out. He had received a plate of ginger snaps for his gallant rescue.

It was about twenty minutes later that she was finishing up her duties for the day, having some samples to drop off for Dr. Tannis in the med bay. She was surprised when she entered and found no one there, but shrugged and lugged the box over to Tannis' desk. As she turned to leave, Wyn finally noticed a body laying on a table with the curtain partially closed. She couldn't hear the steady beep of any monitors, so maybe it was a cadaver?

Whipping her head about to see if anyone was coming, Wyn let her curiosity get the better of her. The only cadaver she'd seen before had been a rakk carcass that Tannis had been studying for whatever reason. The body on the table looked to be a human. As she pulled the curtain back she noticed it was a human, a man who looked like he hadn't seen a decent meal in a long time. His right arm was replaced by a somewhat clunky metal arm that looked to have been made from scraps from a vehicle or a ship maybe, held onto his body by some kind of brace attached to his shoulder. The arm had seen better days, many plates were missing from it and the wiring inside was exposed. His body was covered in wounds, and caked in blood. It looked like something had been dragging him across the ground.

Her morbid curiosity put the thought into her head that he looked fresh still, maybe he was still warm. She reached out her hand and touched it to the middle of his chest. Wyn was startled when her arm started glowing with a bright white light, and she couldn't move her hand away. His eyes shot open as his back arched in what was obvious pain, a loud screeching leaving his lips. Hell, what was she doing to him?!

Wyn grabbed at her wrist with her right hand trying to tug herself away from the poor guy, but was unsuccessful. As she opened her mouth to call for help, she felt a sharp tugging sensation in the core of her being. She could feel her energy being pulled in two different directions by some kind of unseen force. The thought of _'Heal the body, purge the Parasite from it'_ entered her head unbidden and if possible she glowed even more, the light forcing her eyes to water.

Her accidental victim still squirming and screaming beneath her, she's able to just barely make out through her squinting watering eyes a red glow detaching itself from his body. It seemed to almost hover there for a moment, before a high-pitched screech that left her ears ringing emanated from it. It disintegrated in a powerful shockwave that shook the whole medical wing and shattered anything made of delicate materials. The man's body falls back onto the table limp, him panting and whimpering as he shakes from the exhaustion.

Wyn's arm stops glowing and she hits the ground unconscious.

* * *

Troy had been so sure he was going to die, had been ready for it. He didn't know how long he had laid there in his own blood, his body too tired to move, but it had felt like a lifetime. He had fallen in and out of consciousness too often to be able to accurately tell how many times the sun had risen and set, if it had at all.

The sounds around him had been distorted, his eyesight blurry and always edged in blackness. Eventually Troy had felt something grab ahold of him, he'd tried to struggle, not keen on being eaten alive by some predator. The noises around him had almost sounded like shouting in an urgent tone. He felt disconnected from his body, stuck in a light-weight floating sensation. It was kinda nice.

He'd been floating around in the darkness for some time before a white light pierced through it, was this it? _Had Death finally come to claim his battered soul?_ He hadn't expected the pain. His eyes had snapped open suddenly and he could make out the outline of a person standing over him doing something to his chest. It was hard to see with the blinding light, but he could feel the pain stabbing and shifting things in his body. He couldn't help but let out the screams, Troy had no control over them. Or his body, feeling it arch so high off of whatever surface he was laying on added to the pain emanating from inside of him. What were they doing to him?!

It felt like his body was literally at war within itself. Burning, stabbing, pulling, crushing, more burning. The Leech was clearly trying to drain the energy of whoever was touching him, it felt similar to when he'd feed from Tyreen, but it was having some kind of problem. His body wasn't absorbing it, he could feel it building up in his chest. A surging push from all of the built-up energy towards his left arm and shoulder made him scream out until his throat was raw. God, he'd just had his other arm ripped off _he just knew it!_

Troy's head began ringing when a deafening screech went off beside him before a shockwave of power flooded through room. He felt his body flop lifelessly against the table he was laying on, his breaths coming in pants, body shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't see who had been standing over him anymore thank god, he was feeling really weird. A creeping sensation had spread out from his chest to the entirety of the left side of his body, leaving him feeling very vulnerable.

He tried to gain control of his body, he had to get out of here before anyone came back to continue torturing him, but his body wasn't very responsive. It took some time for him to be able to feel his arm enough to slip it under himself and prop himself up. Troy looks up groggily as hurried footsteps brings several people into the room, rifles in hand looking at him in suspicion.

"Boy, what did you do?!" One of them yells at him as the man drops to the floor only to stand up with a woman in his arms moments later. Oh shit, what the hell had she been doing on the floor? He had tried to open his mouth to say he hadn't done anything, only to have a needle jabbed into his body. Looking at the woman who had injected him with crazed anger in his eyes, Troy wants to start screaming at her before he's unconscious once again.

Waking up strapped to a chair is really shitty and uncomfortable. Troy's head felt like somebody had stomped on it trying to smash it like a melon. His whole body ached, his right arm gone. Fuckers! Trying to move himself proves pointless, whoever tied him knew what they were doing. Looking about he notices that the room is empty except for the chair he's in and a very dim light hanging from the ceiling. _Great, just great._

He sat there apprehensive of what was going to happen to him. It was clear he was going to be interrogated, maybe tortured for information. What information he isn't sure, it's not like he'd been on Pandora long enough to know anything of value.

Snapping his head up at the sound of the door opening, Troy tries to sit up as straight as possible, attempted to put a look of nonchalance on his face. The man who enters the room looks to be middle-aged and doesn't bother to hide the scowl on his face. Ah, he recognizes him as the man who had picked up the woman off the floor.

"You mind telling me what exactly you did back there?" The man likes to cut right to the chase it seems.

"I didn't do anything, what did your people do to me? What do you WANT with me?"

"You can't tell me you didn't do anything and expect me to believe that!" Is spat at Troy. "A powerful shockwave that was felt throughout the entire building, one of our people unconcious on the floor, something happened. So again, I'll ask you what exactly did you do back there?"

Troy is getting really pissed off, he leans forward as much as he's able, glaring with as much heat as he can. "I. DIDN'T. DO. ANYTHING. All I know is that I was dying, then suddenly I'm awake and being tortured. So again, _I'll ask. What did your people do to me?!"_

The older man drops the anger from his face, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look son, we can't decide what to do with you until Wynter wakes up, if she wakes up. I'm to escort you to a temporary cell that has been set up for you until we can get some answers from her. On the upside, whatever happened healed your injuries so you shouldn't need medical attention. But it'll go more smoothly for you if comply and don't cause trouble. Since I brought you to HQ for treatment after finding you out there, you're my responsibility. You can call me Lt. Daniels." After saying his piece, he makes his way over to Troy and cuts the bonds loose. Motioning for him to follow, Lt. Daniels hoists his rifle a little higher and leaves the room with a stern look on his face.

Troy hesitates for a moment before following him out, grateful with the hallway being empty. It's takes only a minute to get to the cell they'd be keeping him in. He's surprised to find it's a fairly fortified room in the medical wing. Shooting a questioning look at his jailer, the man looks uncomfortable as he says "I think they were wanting to run some tests on ya. Never heard of a man Siren before, the scientist who works here studies them." He quickly leaves the room after shooting Troy an apologetic look and locks the door behind him.

Nope, nope nope nope! There was no way he was going to be any scientists fucking guinea pig! Troy has no problem screaming this at her when the woman, Tannis, approaches him later about the tests she wants to perform. She huffs and leaves in a hurry when he starts grabbing whatever is around and throws it her way. Fuck this shit!

He flops down on the bed in the room in a huff, wondering why his life was so fucked up. He hopes that fucking bitch wakes up soon so he can get the hell out of here. God fucking damn it he was supposed to be dead! In the afterlife with the only person who had ever cared about him, not waiting to be a lab rat for a bunch of assholes who wouldn't take him at his word. He had no reason to lie, he didn't understand why they didn't believe him when he said he hadn't done anything. Unless... 

Troy sat up quickly, even more enraged. _That fucking cunt!_ She was unconscious on the floor because she had been close to him when that shockwave went off. _She_ was the one that did something to _him!_ He bellows in rage as he punches the wall next to him. Alarm bells go off in his head as he gets a proper look at his arm. His markings look different. They're the wrong color is the first thing he notices, having gone from a bright red to a dark burgundy. They had also spread all the way down his body, presumably to his foot. The shape had changed a bit too.

Most of the circular shapes were gone or had shrunk in size. A PCB circuit board design seemed to now connect the lines which seemed to have thinned out slightly. In the middle of the larger circles that were still present was a strange symbol, and exaggerated "X" with a dot at the top and bottom of it.

The biggest change was in the middle of his arm. Two lines running down from the top of his shoulder and up from his wrist; taking on a rounded shape before meeting each other by a very thin line in the middle. He couldn't tell what it was supposed to be, but felt it was significant.

So, whatever she had done had messed with his Siren powers then. Fuck him, fuck this whole mess. He needed some answers.

* * *

It was a day later when Wyn finally awoke, still feeling drained. It seemed like they had been waiting for her to awaken, moments after she blinked her eyes open people were flooding into the room. Where was she? Noticing a steady beeping noise, she figured she must be in the med bay.

Upon seeing the man who'd been a not-dead body enter the room behind Mac, Wyn felt a surge of aggression fill her. She sat up suddenly and attempted to launch herself at the stranger, being held back by Lilith and another with shouts to calm down. 

The stranger looked startled, before a pissed look took over his face.

"What the fuck did you do to me?!!" Is yelled by the pair in unison. Wyn recovers first, gearing herself up for a tirade.

"What kind of magic bullshit did you pull on me? I touched you and then that glowing light appeared and no matter how hard I pulled my hand wouldn't come off of your chest. You drained me of my energy and that explosion came off of you! What was that anyways? Who are you?"

The man looks just as confused as she felt, but lets off a small growl of annoyance. "My name doesn't matter right now. What did _you_ do? Why did you touch me in the first place?"

Everyone in the room looks at Wyn expectantly, and she suddenly feels sheepish embarrassment. "Um, I thought you were just a dead body, my bad."

The room falls silent and all the occupants stare at her with a deadpan look.

"Right, so you thought you'd poke around at a "dead body." Great, just great. So the whole healing me thing, that wasn't supposed to happen?" He asks, looking progressively more irate. She'd healed him? Geez, why was he so pissy then?!

Oh yeah, he'd been writhing around in pain. Guess healing him hurt quite a bit. Wyn felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought but didn't say anything in response, turning her head to the side and not looking at anyone.

"What I want to know, is why I have two Siren strays in HQ and nobody bothered to tell me?" Lilith demanded, arms crossed staring down Mac.

"Commander I didn't know Wyn was a Siren, hell she didn't even now what Sirens were when I asked. Harvey and I assumed her markings were just more tattoos. As for Mr. Grumpy here, well, that's the reason I initially brought him in. Wasn't expecting him to actually be one though."

Lilith just looks done with it all. Wyn wonders to herself if she's going to go off on a tangent, that grumpy guy looked like he was seconds away from throwing a big tantrum like a big baby. Baby...

"FUCK!! Where's Vael?!! How long have I been out, who's got him now?!" She starts to panic and get up from the bed she's laying on.

"Relax and quit your screeching Wyn, Moxxi still has him. He's fine so chill the fuck out. Now, we've got another stray that Mac dragged in that I wasn't planning for," Lilith shoots Mac a glare at this, "so we need to figure out where to put you. Luckily, a small wing has just become available that's like it's own apartment and has two rooms. You guys are going to be living there. Don't like it? Tough shit, get along, I have more important things to worry about right now. Mac, show them to their area, then come see me. We need to have a discussion about what all you bring home with you."

Ignoring sounds and words of protest, Lilith flounces out of the room with no more fucks to give. Wyn glares at the tall stranger who just glares back, and Mac walks over to her bedside to helps her up. Supporting her weight, he motions with his head for the other one to follow and shuffles them out of the room.

They enter a quiet section of HQ that didn't seem to have any other living quarters in it, Mac walking them up to a door on the right. He taps on a door pad to the left and it whooshes open quietly. He leads them inside and set Wyn down on the couch in the living room area.

"Alrighty then, I'll leave you two to get settled and figure out the bedroom situation. Wyn, I'll stop by Moxxi's and let her know you're back up so she can bring Vael by. You! Behave yourself or you can sleep in a cell in the brig. See you later."

He scurries out of there, feeling the heat of two sets of glares aimed at his back. Good lord, he was too old for this.

Back in their apartment, Troy had turned his glare from the man who just left to his unwilling roommate. This was just perfect. She simply glares back at him for a moment before flopping herself into a laying position on the couch. Tch, go figure she's a space hog as well.

He notices a comfy armchair in the corner, and decides to claim it for himself. Making himself comfortable, he finally gets her attention with a wave of his hand.

"So, who exactly is Vael?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will post a reference photo soon. 
> 
> Also I just realized the timeline for Troy being out on his own injured is confusing, sorry about that. He has the attack two days before being found and hauled off to HQ. He and Wyn have been on Pandora roughly the same amount of time.


	6. A straggle of strays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leads to some awkward days

She hadn't answered his question. When he had asked her "who is Vael?" his roommate had been quick to put a blank look on her face and just stare at him.

It was incredibly uncomfortable, which he figured was her end goal. Troy had huffed and shot her the dirtiest look he could manage before he hoisted himself up and quickly claimed one of the rooms for himself. He chose the one furthest away from the door to the apartment, and was pleased that it had its own bathroom. Good, he remembered having to share a bathroom with Ty, and it had been a nightmare. Girls always hogged the bathroom.

Troy tries to pretend that thinking about his sister doesn't feel like getting a stab in the chest. He didn't miss her, he didn't! 

He was a bad liar, even to himself. Especially to himself.

After all, he had had to lie to keep himself going everyday back on Nekrotafeyo. Troy figured if he said to himself that his sister and father loved him enough times, it'd eventually come true.

He didn't want to lie to himself anymore. Troy was tired of having to hide who he was, was tired of expectations laid on him.

When was he going to catch a break.

He tiredly flops himself down on his bed, trying but failing to shake the darkening thoughts that were creeping up from the corners of his mind. He tried to quiet and empty his mind, but the thoughts seemed to scream louder.

Troy was lonely. Sad. _Heartbroken._ Tyreen had broken his heart when she abandoned him to die and never looked back. His sister, his TWIN sister wanted him dead. They had shared a womb, and Troy thought two people couldn't get much closer than that.

What had he done to his sister that was so bad that she wanted him dead? Was it that he got so much attention from mom? He had a hard time remembering those moments, because they happened in the throws of a fit or illness, and he was usually too sick to be awake or coherent. It wasn't fair to him either. He didn't have clear memories of Leda anymore. He couldn't really remember her face anymore. Troy had an old picture of Leda and the Twins that had been taken when they were five. _That_ was how he remembers her.

Pulling out the picture from his pocket, Troy can feel burning behind his eyes. God, it was such a long time ago. Things fell apart horribly after Leda died. His relationship with Tyreen fractured upon coming to Pandora.

In that moment he allowed his tears to silently fall. For the first time in years Troy gave himself permission to cry.

He was alone in a strange place. They had made him feel incredibly vulnerable by taking his arm and not giving it back. By the suspicious glares, muttered threats. 

Curling up in as small of a ball as he can make himself, Troy unwittingly falls into a fitful sleep, tears not stopping until the very early hours of the morning.

* * *

Troy woke up the next morning with gritty eyes. Rubbing them delicately, he slowly sits up and drags his eyes across the room. Right, he'd been moved to a new area last night.  
Noticing the picture in his hand, he carefully places it in the drawer of the nightstand and drags himself off to his bathroom for a shower.

He's quite pleased that it's decent sized, no need to duck through the doorway. The shower stall is tall and wide enough for him to turn about it comfortably. Even the tub is large enough that he'd be able to partially lounge in it.

Turning on the shower, he peels his clothes off while waiting for the water to heat. God he reeks, his clothes still had dried blood in on them. Maybe he'll be able to find an incinerator somewhere, there was no saving them.

After 30 minutes he forced himself out and started looking through the drawers in the room. Surprisingly there were some clothes of varying sizes, he was able to find some sweat pants and a tank top that mostly fit, the legs of the pants being slightly short for him.

Not that he was surprised, at 6'7" Troy figured he'd have to have something custom made if he wanted it to fit properly. Still, having something on his body was better than walking about naked.

He didn't want his roommate to have another reason to shoot him nothing but dirty looks. Troy scowls to himself at the thought.

Getting dressed quickly Troy shuffles out of the room towards the kitchen hoping it'd be stocked up already. A decent meal after so long living off of MRI's and travel rations sounded wonderful to him. Something as simple as a bowl of cereal sounded like a feast right then.

Troy really hated how he was always hungry.

Making his way towards the kitchen the scent of coffee brewing hits his nose. Ah yeah! He hadn't had coffee since they had first landed on this trash planet. Thinking about it more, the last time he'd enjoyed some had been right after getting his tattoo on his torso. Troy was lucky to not only find a competent artist, but someone who had a smidgen of compassion in her bones. When explaining why he was getting "Calypso" tattooed on his torso, he noticed her shoot him a sympathetic and understanding look and had only asked for $20.00 as payment.

Coffee and some kind of pastery came after as a celebration for their new start on life.

It really was too bad that things started going downhill almost immediately afterwards.

He slunk over to kitchen counter fumbling around with the coffee pot and a mug sitting next to it. Not bothering to add anything to it or let it cool down a bit Troy chugs the whole thing down in about 4 seconds, sputtering and coughing afterwards but feeling the caffeine start to work its magic.

Pouring himself another cup, Troy starts to forage around the kitchen hoping to find anything to start to sate his hunger. He hums appreciatively upon finding fruit in a bowl on the opposite side of the counter, grabbing an apple and munching away at it slowly, simply savoring it.

He nearly drops his impromptu breakfast upon turning around, however, when meeting his eyes to small blue ones sitting quietly watching him.

Oh, he didn't know his roommate had a pet. It was a baby right? It looked like a little human, so had to be one. Where did she even get it?

It was calmly watching him as it drank what looked like milk out of its bottle, not seemingly scared in the slightest. Troy scowled at the baby, only to be surprised at it tipping its head to the side with a look of curiosity, but no fear.

Huh.

"Hi." He states to it, waiting to get some kind of reply. Troy feels irritation start to flare up when all he receives in return is a slow blink.

Rude.

Snorting softly Troy sits down at the table still sipping at his coffee and decides to stare back. If the thing wanted to be rude, he was going to be rude back.

He can feel his right eye start to twitch after several minutes of the silent stare-off. 

"You know you shouldn't just stare at people, it's annoying." Troy finally huffs out. All he gets is a small smile in return. Is this thing seriously mocking him right now?

"Well, say something!"

"He can't, he hasn't started speaking yet." Troy whips his head around to find his roommate glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. When did she get in here, he hadn't heard her at all. He responds with a scowl, trying and failing to not notice what little clothing she was wearing. What the hell, a sports bra and spandex shorts? Why is she wearing those? Did she sleep in them? 

"And why the hell not? Is he broken?" He jumps slightly when she throws a spoon at his head. Damn violent woman, it's a simple question!

"He's only four months old, they don't start talking until a little later. Wait, what the hell do you mean broken he's not broken?! Why are you such a jerk!" She storms out of the kitchen after grabbing herself a mug of coffee, muttering obscenities under her breath. "And don't bother him!" Is thrown his way through the doorway.

He hadn't planned on it anyway, but he was gonna do it now.

Slowly sneaking over to the baby, Troy shoots a quick look at the entrance to the kitchen before snatching the bottle out of his mouth and quickly slipping back into his chair. He put on an air of innocence and watched the doorway, waiting to see if she was going to come back in.

Troy hadn't bothered to look at the baby after he'd stolen the bottle from him, so was completely unprepared for the loud wailing that emanated from his tiny body. Ah fuck, why was he crying?! Shooting up quickly and stumbling over his chair Troy scrambled back over to the little screaming monster and pops the bottle back into his mouth. He gets a tear-filled glare which he swears doesn't make him feel twinges of guilt. Nope, no guilty feelings here.

Damn, can't the little guy take a joke?

Troy flops back into his chair and plays with his coffee mug quietly.

He was totally not pouting.

Not sure what else he can do that won't set off the loud screaming again Troy just goes back to staring. Grumpy looking blue eyes staring right back.

* * *

After showering to wash away the sweat from her morning yoga and workout, Wyn throws on the first thing she pulls out of her drawers and heads back towards the kitchen. She hated that she was already grumpy this morning. She had been feeling great after her workout and couldn't wait to gulp down some coffee, getting it brewing and getting Vael set up with a bottle in his high chair. She'd left the kitchen momentarily to grab a towel and wipe of some sweat she'd missed on the back of her neck, but felt her mood drop upon returning to find her roommate yelling at her child. Oh yeah, him.

Could he really not find anything better to do than be an asshole first thing in the morning?

His comments about her son being broken made her want to toss the pot of hot liquid over his body, but she settled for hitting him with a spoon. Baby boy was right where he needed to be in his development, why is he broken because he's not saying words yet? He started babbling, actual words would come later.

Fucking hell, dude really was a mood killer.

She stomped out of the kitchen before doing something that would get her in trouble. Wyn looked down at herself and realized she'd simply swapped one yoga outfit for another in her haste to get dressed earlier. Snorting at herself she goes back to her room and grabs some sweats and a plain t-shirt and swaps them for her current outfit.

Today was her day off, may as well wear something comfy.

Reluctantly going back into the kitchen, she finds the boys quietly watching each other. Nodding to herself that nothing seemed amiss, Wyn starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge and lines pans up on the stovetop. Cooking a big breakfast would pick up her mood again, and hopefully could be used as an icebreaker for getting to know her roommate.

Cracking some kind of eggs into a pan, and lining up strips of what she hoped was bacon into another, Wyn turns around and contemplates the strange man for a moment.

He seemed kind of down.

Guilt decides to sucker-punch her in the stomach. Of course he must be feeling down, he didn't know anybody.

"So, um, I didn't quite catch your name yesterday." She states over her shoulder, still concentrating on making breakfast. Wyn hoped he liked pancakes. "My name is Wynter Dova, everybody calls me Wyn though. And the little guy is Vael." 

"...Troy." Is stated after a couple of minutes of silence.

Geez, okay then. Not much of a talker unless he's being a jerk it seems. Great, just great.

An awkward silence resumes over the kitchen while she finishes up making breakfast, the silence only being broken by the sizzles of the pans and the small noises Vael makes.

Wyn quickly fixes up two plates of food and carries them over to the kitchen table, watching Troy's eyes widen in surprise as she sets one down in front of him.

"What..."

"It's breakfast, just shut up and eat, you're too damn skinny." She huffs out at him. God did he think she poisoned it or something? Maybe he didn't like to eat food, whatever not her problem he had it if he wanted it.

Troy simply frowned at her and started eating, not bothering to look at her again. Wyn noticed he kept sending weird looks at Vael though. It was starting to make her uncomfortable. Did he have a problem with babies?

After the fifth or so time of him doing so, she couldn't hold her tongue anymore. "Is there a problem? Why do you keep looking at him like that?"

"It's just, why is he here? Why do you have a baby? I can understand having, like, a skag for a pet since they're supposed to be pretty easy to care for. Isn't a baby supposed to be hard? So why did you decide to get one? I mean, where did you even get him, is there somewhere on Pandora you can buy them?"

What? What the hell is he babbling on about?

"I didn't buy him, he's my son I _birthed_ him. What are you even talking about?"

"You birthed him? How? When, why?" His look of confusion had to be faked, no one could be this obtuse.

She was saved from making a very scathing retort by a ping from her Echo notifying her that someone was at their door. Getting up quickly to answer it she sighs quietly upon seeing Moxxi standing there with one of her bags.

"You okay sugar? You're looking a little frazzled there. Are you still not feeling well?"

"It's nothing like that Moxxi, my new roommate is being an ass about Vael." She notices Moxxi's eyes narrow slightly at that.

"Oh really? What seems to be the problem?"

"He's asking a bunch of dumb questions, acting like he doesn't know anything about babies and where they come from. I mean, how can a grown ass man not know the basics of this stuff? Apparently he's under the impression I bought Vael somewhere here on Pandora. Is that a thing here?" The thought makes her stomach curdle.

"Do you want me to talk to him? I have no problem setting him straight." Moxxi replies with a smirk on her face as she strolls through the doorway. Wyn motions for her to follow and leads her into the kitchen.

Grabbing Vael quickly, Wyn escapes the apartment to go track down Ellie. She was curious about what Moxxi would say to him, but it wasn't really any of her business. If it was important she would find out later.

* * *

Her roomie spent the next week avoiding her as much as possible, and the few times she'd caught his attention he made a strange face and scurried away before she got a word out. Finally frustrated with the stupidity Wyn asked Moxxi what exactly she had done to him.

He had never had a sexual education apparently. What little Moxxi had been able to get out of him about his education and home life had been that he'd been mostly neglected, and his parents had never spoken to him about puberty or sex.

Moxxi had taken great glee in properly educating him from everything from puberty differences in girls and boys, to the mechanics of sex and making babies. She'd even been so kind as to educate him about all the sexual diseases.

According to Moxxi he'd lost all color in his face by the time she was done and begging her to help him get ahold of fertility suppressant shots and condoms. Which Moxxi had no problem doing for him, she ordered such things for herself all the time and could be discreet about adding to her order.

Wyn couldn't help but beat herself up for being bitchy again. She had to stop making assumptions about everybody here. Promising Moxxi she wouldn't breathe a word of their conversation to anybody, Wyn left Vael with her and made her way back to Ellie's workshop. They had started on a project at the request of Lilith several days ago, but now she was more determined than ever to get it completed in a timely manner.

Six days later Troy got his new arm. His left arm had been thoroughly measured by Tannis when he received a physical the week before, and the measurements had been sent swiftly to Ellie with the request to make him a new prosthetic since his old one had been trashed. It was made from similar materials as her bow had been, a sleek black with grooves filled with eridium throughout it. Ellie had also been able to tweak his bracer so that it fit him more comfortably and was able to be attached and dethatched more smoothly.

He tried not to show it, but they could tell he appreciated the new prosthetic.

Troy had shot Ellie a quiet but sincere "thank you" and given Wyn an indiscernible look before fleeing to somewhere else.

She wouldn't see him again for several days, not until Mac gathered them both up in the training area. He was going to be overseeing their general training while the Commander figured out how to go about training them in their Siren abilities.

This ought to be fun...or a complete disaster.

Wyn had a feeling it was going to be the latter for her. She was going to have to learn how to handle several types of guns, and grenades.

Grenades were gross and she was just going to blow herself up.

At least Troy seemed enthusiastic about learning to use the weapons. Then again, he seemed to be a natural with them. Wyn wondered if she could just get away with using her bow. She was plenty proficient in archery and hunting with one. But having to get arrows custom made was a problem and she begrudgingly conceded that guns would be a better option since they were abundant here.

He still avoided her.

Wyn pretended it didn't hurt that yet another person was keeping her at arms length.

This was why she hated being around other people. They were just another reminder of how lonely her life actually was.

* * *

He didn't know how he was supposed to act around her anymore. After the very very long and embarrassing talk with Moxxi, Troy could see how his questions had been utterly stupid. But how the hell was he supposed to know this stuff if no one bothered to teach him?! He couldn't help but hate his father so much right now. 

If pregnancy and childbirth were as bad as Moxxi said they were, well, Troy couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for Wyn. She had gone through all of that and survived it somehow.

Troy had never been so happy to not be a woman.

Didn't mean he wasn't paranoid about causing a pregnancy though. Or catching something.

At Moxxi's insistence, Mac had taken Troy out to a nearby town for drinks at another bar. A bar that had other services besides drinking alcohol. He had initially wondered about why she had given him suppressant shots and condoms beforehand, but was able to put two-and-two together pretty quickly upon entering the establishment. Moxxi had warned him that hooking up with anyone at HQ was probably not the best idea. "Don't shit where you eat" she had said. It was a disgusting sentiment, but he understood the jist of what she meant.

He had been very nervous, but one of the working girls was used to breaking in first-timers and was very patient with him, teaching him how to properly inject the suppressant into his side and put on the condom. She stayed with him the entire night, answering his questions and teaching him what felt good to a woman, helping him figure out what felt good to him.

It had felt really nice, but Troy didn't think he'd be hooking up with too many people. His health had always been shit, and sex added another layer of dangers he wasn't keen on picking up.

Troy supposed he was lucky that he'd figured out how to masturbate when puberty hit and had been fairly content to get by with just that for so long. He was in complete control in that regards, one of the only times he was ever in control over something.

All of this had just really hammered into his head that his roommate was a woman. Who had been sexually active at some point in her life. Some point more recently since she had a very young child.

It made him uncomfortable being around her. Her constant glares had gradually dropped to more frustrated and worried than wanting to stab him with her eyes. It was just easier to avoid an awkward conversation that he felt was coming than to face it.

He was good at being hard to find when he wanted to be.

So even though he was being forced to train with her, he would keep to himself as much as possible. Troy didn't think he'd ever be able to have any interactions with her that weren't uncomfortable or embarrassing.

They weren't friends. They probably never would be. They just had to live together.


	7. Can I just have a training montage?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even Rocky got a montage!

Training was a brutal affair. Wyn had never felt more tired and haggard in her life as she did these past two weeks. She had thought that having Mac in charge of their training would have had her easing into it. She had been dead wrong.

Mac was the devil in human form. He seemed like a sweet if not somewhat gruff older man, but she was on to him. He was determined to make her a permanent part of the ground.

Wyn had always wanted to learn some form of martial art, learning to defend herself sounded like a swell idea.

She was stupid. She wished the swelling would go down already.

 _Krav Maga_ , Mac wanted them to learn Krav Maga. Troy had no idea what it was but sounded excited about learning it.

That poor sweet summer child, Wyn's chest filled with pity. He wasn't going to be all that excited when they actually started learning the moves and sparring with other people. She knew a little of what to expect, and was aware that Krav Maga was the deadliest and most aggressive of all the martial skills that could be learned.

Troy had quickly changed his mind after a week of implementing the spars, she wasn't surprised in the slightest. 

It sounded easy in theory, don't allow your opponent to get close to your body. If they do, finish them off as quickly and aggressively as possible. Kill your opponent if you have to. Aim for the most vulnerable parts of the body and hit hard. Temper yourself, and put just the right amount of force into your strike needed to down them without exhausting yourself.

Putting it into action was much harder.

Wyn and Troy were both put through a series of physical tests to see where they would need improvement, which they both failed horribly. Sighing, Mac made up a training regiment and schedule for them and expected them to do it without complaint. He also set up a dietary plan for them, telling them they could eat junk after they were healthy and used to the regiment.

They disregarded most of the list and ate whatever.

If nothing else came of it, the two roommates were able to bond slightly over their mutual bitching of the hardass in charge of them.

And Mac really was a hardass. When it came to helping the troops to keep in shape he dropped the kind uncle persona and switched to being a drill sergeant. He'd been part of Vladof's military force before leaving for his own personal reasons, and still held their strict no nonsense approach towards training.

He got results, so none of the higher ups reprimanded him. His trainees all feared getting on his bad side, therefore never complained anywhere they could be overheard.

Wyn had to mostly drop her morning yoga for working out at the training grounds. Mac wanted her to work on building up more upper body strength and stamina. Running fifty laps around the perimeter of HQ was a nightmare, but most trainees had to do it. Then lifting weights of various sizes for fifteen minutes, fifty push-ups, fifty pull-ups, one hundred sit-ups, and then ten minutes of body cooldown in which she got to do her yoga.

And that was all before breakfast.

At least she didn't have to do it alone, Troy was also being forced to do the same workout routine daily, though he didn't speak to her the entire time. As soon as it was time for their cooldown he was gone, doing some light jogging elsewhere. The only time the two spoke to one another was on the off days where training or sparring where especially tough and left them both feeling like they were dying. On those days it was lamenting about how Mac was trying to kill them. The bitchfest never lasted very long before dragging themselves off to their respective rooms and showers and not emerging again for the rest of the day.

Trying to juggle getting in shape/learning to fight and being a mother was getting more and more difficult. Vael was spending more time at Moxxi's or even in central command with Lilith then he was with Wyn.

She hated it. Hated how she was too tired to play with him properly or give him the attention that he so desperately needed. And after two weeks she finally broke down and begged Mac to change up her schedule. He relented without any fuss and gave them both the weekends.

They definitely didn't weep with joy, _that would have been stupid._

Too bad that by the time the weekend came around Troy and Wyn didn't really have the energy to leave their apartment and do anything. The two them usually dragged as many pillows and blankets as they could into the living room and crashed in front of the tv to watch the latest Echo drama, Wyn and Vael in a nest on the floor, Troy stretched out on the couch.

It was nice, even if it was anti-social. Then again, neither of them were very social creatures to begin with. Wyn having a hard time trusting others, Troy having a hard time interacting in general.

The time spent together did help to alleviate some of the awkwardness however, which was good in her book. She was tired of the constant tension in the air, and of him avoiding her like she carried a plague. Wyn knew she was a bitch, wished she could be different, wished that others could understand she didn't mean to be. It was a defense mechanism she used to cope.

And she was looking forward to the day that she wouldn't need it anymore, if that day ever came. For now she'd enjoy the unspoken peace treaty she seemed to have with Troy. Maybe she should try to take the initiative instead of waiting for him to approach her first. Wyn could show him a bit of trust, maybe he'd be more willing to open up.

Besides, she needed to work on the whole trust thing anyways.

* * *

He awoke to light nudging against his leg, unaware he'd fallen asleep in the first place. It was dark and he could barely make out Wyn's face hovering over him, quietly calling his name as she lightly pushed against him.

"Hey, it's late you should move to your room. You'll get a crick in your neck sleeping on the couch." She softly says as she stands back up, Vael curled up asleep in her arms.

He blinks a few times as his brain tries to catch up, doing his best to sit up. In his grogginess Troy sits up too quickly and feels all the blood rush out of his head. He falls back roughly with an "oomph" as the dizziness hits his head forcefully.

Troy tries not to panic as it refuses to abate, he hadn't had a fit in a while and he was praying that he wouldn't have one now. Dizziness was usually the first thing to prelude one of his fits.

He sighs out in relief after a couple of minutes when the dizziness starts to subside, sitting up more slowly this time. Looking up he notices that Wyn hadn't moved, staring at him with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright Troy?"

"I'm fine just sat up too fast." He says dismissively, shooing her hand away as she reaches out towards him. She pulls it back to herself quickly not looking like she believes him, but thankfully drops the question he can tell wants to burst out. With a light nod she sweeps out of the living room towards her own living area, tossing him another look before disappearing beyond her doorway. The door closes with a quiet swoosh and Troy let's out a deep sigh, ruffling his hair with one of his hands.

He's not sure if he preferred his roommate being a giant bitch, or this new concerned version that has popped up recently. When she was acting like a raging bitch it made it easy for him to want to avoid her company. Now though?

Well...

He was lonely, plain and simple. Wyn was too, he could tell. Because while he had avoided talking to her for weeks, he was observant. He watched, he listened, and he noticed how secluded she kept herself. How ostracized she was. Troy heard what others had to say about her.

Some of it sickened him.

There were many who lamented about how she looked like a great fuck with the body she had, and what they'd like to do to her, but would then talk shit about her being a single mother and how it was such a turn-off. Wasn't enough to get them to stop fantasizing in graphic details however. Troy had grown increasingly uncomfortable in the men's locker room one morning after training upon entering it to hear a discussion about what exactly one man in particular would do to Wyn if given the chance. Some of the things he'd said Troy didn't think were even possible for a human body to handle, let alone be enjoyable. He'd had to hurry up and leave before even changing out of his sweaty clothes when the others had joined in and started talking about shoving their cocks down her throat or in her ass, ashamed at feeling his own starting to stiffen.

Not like Wyn gave anybody the time of day anyway. He'd noticed that if she didn't need to speak to anyone in regards to a task she'd been given, she ignored those who tried to start a conversation with her.

He also noticed how meek she was around men in particular. Noticed that she always flinched and jumped at loud noises, looking around for a moment of frantic panic before calming herself down and scurrying away elsewhere. There was a story there, and he had an inkling to what it included.

Troy had debated letting her know what was being said about her, but didn't think she'd appreciate it if his suspicions were correct. He'd simply informed Mac of things being said in the locker room and avoided going in there again.

He really didn't need anymore visuals of his roommate popping into his head, he was already overly aware of her as it was.

Besides it's not like she'd have any interest in him anyways.

So it had been easy enough to avoid her at first, them being put together to work out and get in shape threw a wrench in that plan. He refused to speak to her and just focus on the workout he was assigned, trying to get through it quickly in order to make his escape. If Troy hadn't been getting actual results from punishing his body daily, he would have quit already.

He felt good about himself for the first time in his life, so he stuck with it. Even if some days he was so tired after morning and afternoon training he flopped into bed dead to the world covered in grime and sweat and sometimes blood, not caring that his sheets would be filthy in the morning.

His ever growing pile of laundry had started to become a concern.

And then Mac had decided they could have Saturday and Sunday to themselves. Troy was grateful for the break, but he was usually too worn out at the end of the week to want to do anything.

Wyn apparently felt the same since she never left the apartment on the weekends either.

Avoiding each other became impossible at that point, and Troy was beyond caring anymore. As long as she kept it civil, so would he.

Which led him back to now, wondering why she'd seemed concerned for him.

As he pulled himself to his feet and slowly worked his way towards his room, Troy decided he was too tired to dwell on it anymore. He was making a huge deal out of something so unimportant. Dropping onto his bed, he nuzzled his face into his pillow enjoying the smell of freshly laundered cloth.

Damn, he hadn't done any laundry. Groaning while once again forcing himself up, locating his giant pile of filth was difficult.

Mostly because it wasn't there anymore.

Stumped, Troy grabs onto his pillow sniffing it again. That wasn't the soap he used. So someone else washed his stuff for him.

Considering there were only four people who had codes to their apartment, and two of them were higher ups who would have no business doing someone else's wash he could guess who had done so.

A small warmth bloomed in his chest, gratitude for Wyn washing over him. She had to be as tired as him if not more so since she still had to be a mother to a baby, and yet she found the time to wash and put away his laundry for him.

Settling back into bed Troy falls asleep contemplating what he can do to pay her back for her small kindness towards him.

* * *

Mac was going to make them spar against each other that day. Honestly she should have seen this coming, her and Troy had sparred with most of the others that Mac was in charge of training, it was only logical that they'd have to eventually face each other. Still, it made her nervous. Troy was much bigger than her and he'd built up some decent muscle in the many weeks since they'd started working out. And though she was sure he wouldn't try to hurt her too much, Wyn couldn't help but feel anxiety eating away at her.

There had been too many men in her life that she'd trusted that harmed her. And her relationship with her roommate was tentative at best.

Standing across from him trying to calm herself she can see Troy studying her, a calculating look on his face.

She felt a shudder run up her spine, bile roiling around in her stomach. 

His face changes from calculating to apologetic, his posture changing slightly to show his discomfort at the task they'd been given. Troy half-heartedly readies his stance, waiting on her to do the same so they can begin.

Wyn has a hard time focusing on anything but the pounding in her head drowning out all noise around her. All she can hear is a high-pitched buzzing, all she can see is the faces of her father and That Man.

Troy quickly drops his stance and walks over to her, slowly placing a shaky hand on her shoulder. She can see his lips moving, knows he's trying to say something to her but she can't focus enough to hear it. His face scrunching up in concern, she sees him turn his head to speak to somebody behind himself before turning to face her again. Troy gently pushes down on her shoulder, she can feel metal grasp her wrist very gently and pull slowly towards the ground. Her body follows of its own free will until she's sitting on the floor.

Wyn stares unfocused eyes on his face, still trying to make out what he's saying to her. He appears to be getting more frantic and urgent in what he's trying to convey. Her vision starting to tunnel, Wyn doesn't resist when a hand suddenly covers her nose and mouth, until her body starts screaming for air. The hand moves down slightly so that only her mouth is firmly covered and frantic breaths are drawn in through her nose.

As the blackness recedes from her vision, sound begins to return. The steady voice of her roommate giving her instructions to breath in, breath out, makes her realize that in her panic she had stopped breathing.

Blinking a few times, Wyn grabs onto his hand, gently pulling it away. A blush of embarrassment burns across her face and she can't stand to look him in the eyes. Troy tilts her chin up to look at him anyways.

The fearful look he gives her startles Wyn, but helps ground her to reality.

"Can you hear me now? Are you okay, do you need to go to Medbay?" She nods, then shakes her head. It wouldn't help, she just needed to compose herself.

"Missy you wanna talk about it?" Mac asks as he approaches the two. The frantic shaking of her head at his question causes his face to scrunch up. "It might help ya to speak to someone about it."

"I just...I just have some things to work through. I'm sorry for the freak out, give me a minute and we can begin."

"Miss Dova, you don't have to do this today if you can't hand-"

"I am going to do this!" She shouts out, a defiance emanating from her. "I can do this, don't count me out yet. Please, let me do the spar. We both need to do this in order to be sent out with the others right? I'm not going to hold Troy and myself back, I just need a moment."

She breathes in a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling it out and shakily getting to her feet. Seeing that Troy hasn't moved from his spot kneeling on the floor, she holds out her hand to him, determination set on her face. He hesitates only a moment before the smallest twitch lifts the corner of his lip and he grasps the offered appendage. Wyn pulls him to his feet and nods to him, watching him nod back before moving back to his spot and positioning himself once again in his southpaw stance.

Wyn positions herself in the orthodox stance, left foot sliding forward with her right foot positioned behind her, heel slightly raised off the ground. Both raise their hands to chin level at the same time, relaxed and loose. 

Mac gives them both a look, nodding to himself and signaling for them to begin.

It was almost two hours later that they were able to hobble back to their apartment, Troy smug about his victory, Wyn just rolling her eyes, a small smile adorning her face as she struggled to support his weight.

It had been a pretty good fight, even if she'd be sore for days after.

"I'll win next time." She promised herself while elbowing Troy in the ribs due his comment about her needing a shower. Not like he didn't need one too! She was practically swimming in the sweat dripping off of him. Gross dude, just gross.

She laughs quietly to herself as she drops him in the doorway of the apartment, hearing him squawk at suddenly meeting the floor.

Serves him right for his bragging. 

* * *

Troy felt pleasantly sore the following day, almost euphoric at his win. He had a no-loss streak going for him, something that Mac had proudly commended him for.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt proud of himself for something he'd accomplished.

Even better, Wyn held no hard feelings towards him for it, simply laughing at her own defeat and shooting him a brilliant smile even while pinned with his knee in her chest.

Her dimples that showed up when she fully smiled were adorable, Troy wanted to see if he could make her smile like that again. It was the first time he'd heard her laugh since being brought into the Raiders, which was a shame. She really did have a nice laugh, almost musical.

Currently he was stretched out on the couch content to just bask in the comfortable silence of the apartment. Wyn and Vael were still sleeping, and even though he was hungry and wanted to get up and make breakfast Troy decided to just be lazy for a change of pace.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but woke quite suddenly to the loud growling of his stomach and smell of cooking food coming from the kitchen. Hoisting himself up he flounces towards the delicious smell of what he's sure is bacon whistling a little tune to himself.

Reaching his usual spot at the table he sees a ready made plate of food and mug of coffee waiting for him. Oooh, she made crepes today! Troy quickly ruffles Vael's hair as he goes to sit down, earning a startled squeek for his efforts. A smirk stretches across his face as he lifts his coffee mug to his lips, downing the whole thing in three swallows.

Yeah, that hit the spot. A scoff from over at the stove tells him that his roommate disapproves of him gargling his coffee down so quickly.

Troy was one for the quick caffeine rush, not the type of person to sit and enjoy nursing a cup, so sue him. Wyn thought it a crime that anyone wouldn't bother to enjoy it.

Not his fault she's an addict. She blew a raspberry at him when he informed her of such. Her being childish and weird at times was also not his fault. However he was smart enough not to say that to her, her throwing aim was phenomenal.

Troy would know, he'd been on the receiving end of several thrown objects. Mainly spoons, woman hated spoons for some reason. Or they just made wonderful projectiles.

He's brought out of his musings when she sets his coffee mug back down next to his plate, having refilled it for him when he wasn't paying attention. Troy resumes eating, noticing that she hadn't made up a plate for herself.

"Yh nwt grneh btt nryfng?" Is belted out through a full mouth. Wyn's deadpan look at his lack of manners makes Troy almost choke trying not to laugh.

"I can only assume you're asking about my lack of food. I don't really have time to eat anything, Moxxi cashed in a favor for my help in her bar today and I have to try and find someone to watch Vael. We're both going to be swamped since several teams are all coming back today and Lilith is away from HQ to check out some of the other bases." A frown mars her face for a moment, before she gives him a considering look. Troy raises an eyebrow at her, fork paused in it's ascent to his mouth.

"Look, I know this is a really weird and out of nowhere request, but since you're the only other person I trust...do you think you can watch him today?"

Troy drops his fork onto his plate in surprise. Was she being serious? Wyn noticing his wide eyed look starts to get slightly frantic as she continues speaking.

"I get that it's weird and you don't have experience with babies, luckily he's an easy kid. I have bottles already made up for him in the fridge and he's got plenty of toys to play with to keep him entertained. He takes several naps during the day a-"

Troy simply stares at her as she gets more flustered and her words are rushed out faster. He'd never considered watching a baby but they can't do too much so it couldn't be that hard could it? He knew Vael wasn't walking yet so he didn't have to worry about escape attempts, and kid wasn't talking so he wouldn't get any back-sass. Hell he even knew how to change his diaper, having been taught by her the previous weekend out of curiosity.

He quietly chuckled to himself as Wyn started ringing her hands together in distress. As much as he wanted to let her rambling continue for a little longer, it wasn't fair to Moxxi.

"Yeah I'll watch him, no problem."

"-and...wait what? Really? Oh my goodness thank you so much! Listen, call me on my ECHO if he gets to be too much and I'll figure out something else. I programmed my number onto yours last night before we crashed for the night just look for it under my name. Thank you Troy, I'll figure out some way to pay you back."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure we're even since you've been doing my laundry for me." He shoots back her way, pleased when her embarrassed blush confirms his suspicions. Shooting him a sheepish grin, Wyn walks over to Vael and gives him a kiss on the forehead and simply claps her hand on Troy's shoulder as she walks by.

He hears the door to the apartment whoosh open and close moments later. Hefting himself up Troy places his dishes in the sink to wash later and grabs Vael out of his high chair, popping him onto his hip the way he'd seen Wyn and Moxxi do so.

Time to figure out what to do with the little guy for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Troy's muffled words were
> 
> "You not gonna eat anything?"


	8. Baby and me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A budding bonding of buddies

She stepped quietly into the darkened apartment, softly hurrying into her room to change before she can be spotted by her roommate. Wyn really didn't want him to see the skimpy get-up Moxxi had insisted she wear while helping at the bar. It was too tight, hugged her body in all the right places but her breasts constantly tried to escape their confinement. It made her feel gross being oggled by so many people, but she just slapped a smile on and served the patrons of the bar.

She owed Moxxi that much and more.

Still, she couldn't be happier to be home, even though it was much later than she had been initially thinking. Quickly tossing the thing that pretended to be a dress into the corner to hide it's shame away, she happily pulls on a spaghetti strap tank top and digs around in her clean laundry for some sweats. Finding a pair of black ones she slips them on, frowning at how they swamp her. They hug her hips enough that she doesn't have to worry abou them falling off, but the legs are so long she can't see her feet. It takes her a minute before she realizes she's wearing a pair of Troy's sweats that ended up with her stuff.

Well that's what she gets when washing their stuff together. Then again he was horrible about doing his own laundry, just as she was horrible about doing the dishes, which somehow always ended up clean.

If he wasn't gonna complain about the division of chores she wasn't going to either.

Besides his sweats were comfy, and she only needed to roll up the legs a little in order to walk. She prefered baggy clothes she could hide in anyways.

An aching in her chest area reminds her that she needs to either feed Vael or pump some breast milk. Her breasts had been hurting on and off for the last couple of hours of her shift, and she'd had to excuse herself several times to express some of the excess milk so she didn't leak and relieve some of the pressure.

Walking over to Vael's crib she peeks in, only to frown grumpily upon not finding him asleep in there. Glancing at the clock Wyn sees that it's almost midnight. Surely Troy knew better than to keep a baby up this late? She'd noticed the tv playing lowly in the living room when she'd snuck in assuming her roommate was up watching a show.

Huffing Wyn leaves her room and marches into the living room to demand to know where her son is, only to stop herself short in the doorway. The lights were dimmed, tv was on, and the boys were both asleep. Gliding closer to the couch Wyn can't help the soft smile that lights her face.

Troy is sleeping with his face turned inward to the back of the couch, right arm dangling down to the floor with the remote held loosely in it. Left arm is wrapped around her son holding him securely to his chest, Vael snuggled close and lightly snoring.

Inching closer still, Wyn lightly gets a hold of Vael's waist, trying to slip her arm underneath him in order to pull him up. She stops when he softly whimpers and wiggles away from her, Troy subconciously tightening his grip on the babe and curling the slightest bit around him.

Well then, guess she's gonna have to pump.

Wyn leaves the room momentarily and returns with one of Troy's lighter and larger blankets and drapes it over the two on the couch. She also slips a more comfortable pillow under his head carefull not to wake the sleeping man.

She was curious at how his day had gone, but could wait for tomorrow to find out. Grabbing up the remote Wyn flips off the tv and heads back to her room to shower and pump milk before turning in for the night.

She sincerly hoped it hadn't been too rough of an experience for him.

* * *

Troy was freaking out. He had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation, but knew if he didn't resolve it soon the man known as Troy Calypso would be a dead man.

 _He'd lost the baby._ How the hell had he lost a kid who couldn't even walk yet was beyond him.

The thought that someone had possibly taken him made his body shake. _Fuck him man, his day had been going so well too._

The pipsqueak was surprisingly easy to entertain, after they'd had breakfast he'd taken the kid into the living room and found some cartoons on the tv to pop on. Troy had thought he could sit the kid down to watch and then find something else to do. He hadn't counted on the show being so entertaining.

So he'd spent that first hour babysitting by sitting on the floor watching children's cartoons, unaware that he'd pulled Vael into his lap as both were engrossed with the show.

He was slightly saddened that they hadn't been able to get a strong enough signal on Nekrotafeyo to be able to watch cartoons, Troy knew Tyreen would have been just as ennamored as he was currently.

(Troy ignored the twinge in his chest at the thought of his twin, today was supposed to be a good day, not a pity party day. Those were reserved for Tuesdays.)

But at some point he'd gotten bored with the tv and pulled out his ECHO to start surfing the ECHOnet, deciding to look up things to do with little kids. He'd accidently clicked on an ad that popped up while searching that led to a site for ordering custom made baby clothes.

Looking into his lap, Troy checks over the clothes Vael is wearing, finding himself disappointed in how plain they were. His head whips back and forth between the ECHO and Vael, before he shakes his head and puts the machine down. Not his kid, not his job to order clothes for him.

Before he knows it he finds himself in Wyn's room looking through the drawer of Vael's clothes, his right eye twitching at how mundane they all were.

Come to think of it she dresses strange and pretty plain herself. 

He slams the drawer closed and stomps back into the living room finding the little guy smacking his device making curious noises.

"Stop that you're going to break it. It's a delicate piece of equipment that needs to be handled more gently than that."

Picking it up Troy checks it over, satisfied that nothing appears to be amiss with it, and goes back to the site with custom clothing.

Ordering one shirt won't hurt anything, Little Guy should look presentable if he's going to watch over him occasionally.

It's not really his fault that designing custom clothing is very entertaining for him and he therefore ordered about ten different outfits for the kid, it's not!

Putting his ECHO away before he blows through anymore of his hard earned credits, Troy looks at Vael to find him staring intently back. Troy tilts his head to the side in curiousity, Vael tips his head as well. Tilting his head the other way, Troy's action is mirrored by the baby, a small giggle escaping from the stern face Vael is trying to pull.

So that's how it's going to be huh?

He holds up a hand, waiting for Vael to do so also. Troy then quickly taps his own nose, a laugh breaking out when Vael accidently smacks himself in the face trying to do the same. Angry noises are made in his direction so Troy puts his hands up in a placating manner, trying to stiffle his own giggles. Vael's angry face is cute, his cheeks all puffed out and his nose all scrunched up.

"Not my fault you decided to copy me kid. You okay though?" He reaches out to ruffle Vael's hair only to have the huffy baby jerk his head out of the way. A pouty glare is shot his way, and Little Guy manuvers himself so he is sitting with his back facing Troy.

Kid is just as sassy and quick tempered as his mom.

Troy gets up and goes over to the corner where Vael's toys are kept, grabbing one and bringing it over to him. He can see that Vael is still trying to ignore him, but his interest was caught by the stuffed rakk. Troy makes it dance around and tries to imitate the calls and screeches they make. A smile breaks out on Vael's face even though he still hasn't turned around, but follows the stuffed animal with his eyes.

"Hey there Vael, think you can forgive my good buddy Troy? I'd really appreciate it if you didn't give him a hard time." Troy squeaks out in a high-pitched voice pretending to make the rakk talk. He felt sort of stupid doing it, but no one else was around to see so he bent his pride a bit. It seemed to work in his favor anyways as Vael turned himself around and began to happily babble nonsense at the stuffed rakk.

Troy's sigh of relief is interupted by a bop on the nose by a tiny hand, a full blown laugh is belted out presummably by the look of surprise on his face.

Damn kid really is Wyn's mini me, he even has her dimples.

Pulling a mock offended look, Troy gets up and grabs a few more stuffed animals, figuring if he's gonna play with toys with a baby he may as well go all the way into putting in the effort.

Thank god no one was here to see him like this.

* * *

He'd gotten so into the imaginary adventure that he had set up that Troy hadn't noticed how much time had passed until being interupted by rummbling bellies.

Oh yeah, he should probably get them both some lunch.

Dropping the little jabber plushie he'd been holding, Troy hauls himself to his feet and scoops up Vael who starts softly whining, picking up in volume the further away they move from the living room. Troy softly pats him on the head making small shooshing noises.

"Little Dude you're hungry right? Don't worry your toys aren't going anywhere."

Placing him in the high chair Troy pulls a pre-made bottle out of the fridge and hands it to Vael, who takes a drink out of it and promptly spits it out. Stumped and wondering if it'd gone bad, Troy grabs another and swaps it out for the first one, watching with a growing irritation and concern as this one is rejected too.

"What? What's wrong with it?" All he gets in reply is actual tears running down Little Guy's face. Feeling a pit in his stomach Troy looks around quickly hoping Wyn had had enough time to write down instructions on how to feed Vael properly. He spots a contraption on the counter that he vaguely recognizes and inspects it closer. Ah hah! That's right it's a bottle warmer, he remembered watching Wyn pop bottles in there on several different occasions. Troy pops one in and flips the switch, watching a little orange light come on, the green one next to it still off. Simple enough, it's done when the green light switches on.

Troy grabs a spoon and hands it to Vael to play with while waiting, lucky enough that it serves as a distraction and actually grabs his interest. Rummaging around looking for something to eat himself Troy decides to be lazy and make himself some spicy instant noodles. Grabbing a kettle he fills it and sets it on the stove top to heat. A small pinging noise informs him to grab the bottle out of the warmer and he quickly hands it off to Vael.

Pacing back and forth waiting for the water to heat, Troy starts to hum to himself, lips curling up in a small smile as he notices his captive audience watching him with wide eyes. A song pops into his head that he'd heard playing on Wyn's phone many times, one of her favorites that she claimed to be "a classic." He starts singing without realizing he is.

_"Welcome to your life, there's no turning back.  
Even while we sleep, We will find you  
Acting on your best behavior  
Turn your back on Mother Nature  
Everybody wants to rule the world!"_

Vael completly ignores his bottle as he squeals and claps his hands in excitement, babbling at Troy with unbridled enthusiasm. Troy feels his face heat up a bit at the response and smirks. Walking over to the counter at the back of the kitchen he's happy to find Wyn's ancient phone thing that somehow still works, and flips it on. She'd shown him how to access the music saved on it and connect it to the speaker, and told him he was free to use it whenever. Swiping his thumb across the screen he finds her 80's playlist and hits play, hearing the song he was just singing start up out of the speaker.

Troy returns to the counter to finish preparing his lunch, humming along with the opening music, hearing Vael behind him also trying to hum along. When the singing starts up again Troy sings along somewhat softly, oddly nervous about singing in front of someone else now that he's concious about doing so, even though he enjoys it. However he gets less self concious and more into it the longer the song plays, allowing himself to sing it at full volume, throwing in little dance moves that has Vael wiggling in his chair and babbling a mile a minute.

Music helps to soothe something jagged and torn in his soul, softening the edges of his self loathing bit by bit. Troy especially enjoyed singing. It was encouraging to have someone so thoroughly into it, which helped even more.

He keeps the music playing as he sits down to eat, inhaling his food like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

He still didn't get why he was so hungry all the time.

Vael pops his bottle in back into his mouth, but eyes up Troy's noodles with interest.

Noodles were soft, maybe it wouldn't be bad if he had some?

Troy grabs one and blows on it softly until it's cooled down significantly then hands it over to Vael, who looks at it with interest before shoving his fist with the food into his mouth. A humming noise of what is assumed to be approval is heard and the noodle is eaten within a matter of moments. Vael looks expectantly at Troy who chuckles and repeats the process.

Kid has good taste, instant noodles isn't the best food in the world, but the spicy ones like they were eating at least had decent heat and flavor to them.

They finish their lunch off at a leisurly pace, Troy occasionally handing over another bite to Vael. Putting his bowl in the sink and quickly washing it along with the breakfasts dishes, Troy grabs Vael and takes him back into the living room where they were playing before. However Little Guy seems to have lost interest, leaning against a pillow on the floor and staring off at nothing, eyes drooping bit by bit as he works to finish his bottle. It's only a matter of minutes before his eyes are completely closed and Vael is fully asleep. Troy pops the empty bottle out of his mouth and sets it on the nearby coffee table, then flops inelegantly onto the couch flipping on the tv as he does. He turns down the volume and finds the channel on animal documentaries.

Settling in for some lazy vegging out, Troy briefly wonders why anyone would assume watching a baby was hard. It was super easy, he hadn't had a single problem.

He would think back on this moment later and want to kick himself.

* * *

It's roughly thirty minutes later that the problems start up. Troy hears whimpering coming from the floor. He sits up and leans over towards Vael, noticing his face looks quite red. Alarmed Troy kneels on the floor and places his left hand gently against his face. Little Guy is pretty warm and tries to roll away from his hand still not quite awake. Picking him up wakes him however and Vael starts freaking out, screaming and crying hard.

Troy is doing his best not to panic but has no idea what's happening or what's wrong. He slips his hand up the back of Vael's shirt to find it warm and lightly wet from sweat.

_Shit that can't be good._

Troy pries Vael's shirt off which gets him to stop freaking out momentarily, but he returns to crying pathetically soon enough. Getting him stripped down to just his diaper, Troy checks it to find it clean and dry. 

Okay so that's not the problem.

He gently carries Vael into Wyn's bathroom and searches until he finds a wash cloth. Getting the cold water running Troy wets it and rings it out before running it over the crying baby in his arms. He remembers his own mother doing this for him when he'd get sweaty and hot while sick and is pleased to see that it seems to be helping Vael feel better. Wetting it and ringing it out a few more times, Troy turns off the tap and walks back into the living room still running it back and forth across Vael's little back, chest and neck.

Vael quiets down and begins to fall asleep, little whimpers still making their way past his lips. Troy tries to pat his back and rock him gently hoping to help him settle. It works like a charm.

And then Vael pukes all over his chest.

Troy stands there completely stunned for a moment, his brain trying to process that yes, the baby just puked milk and partially digested noodles all over him.

Ew. Yeah he needed a shower, _like now._

Troy wipes down the baby one more time and sets him back on the pillow and blankets on the floor and manuevers himself to his own room, taking a quick detour to discard his shirt directly into the washing machine along the way. His pants get tossed in too since the vomit had dribbled down the entirety of his torso and gotten them gross as well. He gets the water in his shower going and hops in as soon as possible eager to wash himself thouroghly. Good god he hadn't felt this nasty in a while, even opting to wash his hair though nothing had gotten into it.

He spends nearly an hour in the shower washing and rinsing and rewashing until finally feeling clean and his skin gets pruney. 

Towling himself off as he gets out Troy digs around in his drawer looking for his favorite black sweats to throw on, wanting the extra comfort from how soft they are. He's annoyed at not being able to find them and assumes they're buried in his dirty laundry somwhere. He tugs on another pair and drags a tank top over his head, ruffling his already messy hair to help shake some of the excess water out of it before throwing the towel back onto his head.

Walking through the living room into the kitchen he's too busy drying his hair to notice the silence. Troy grabs a bottle of water out of the fridge and sighs to himself when he settles into the armchair in the living room. Taking a drink he revels in the quiet.

It's too quiet. Looking at the floor something unpleasant tingles up his spine at the realization that Vael isn't laying there.

_Fuck._

Throwing himself to his feet Troy frantically looks around on the floor, looking under the armchair and couch and any blankets and pillows on the floor. Nothing. He hurries over to the corner where the toybox is, looking all around it and even digging around in it. Still nothing. He checks around the tv stand, under the coffee table, every nook and cranny he can find in the living room.

No baby.

Confusion adds itself on top of his ever growing panic. Little Guy couldn't walk, so where did he go?

_Had...had someone broken in and taken him?_

Cold dread eats away at Troy.

He was totally fucked.

* * *

Troy was doing his best to appear as nonchalant as possible while scurrying about HQ, keeping his eyes and ears open. Nothing wrong with taking a speed walk during the middle of the day to enjoy the view of concrete walls, nothing at all. He was being as discreet as he could be, sticking to the shadows and trying to not appear like he was eavesdropping on conversations as he walked by.

God he needed to ask someone about Vael without the worry of being snitched out to Wyn.

His prayer was answered, sort of, when the annoying CL4P-TP unit literally rolled right into him. Perfect. Putting on the most intimidating scowl he could, Troy glares down at the jabbermouth as it prattled on about him being in the way before fearfully switching over to shaky apologies and pleas to not be murdered.

"Hmm I don't know..." Troy begins, scratching at his chin in a bored manner, "you see, I was in a hurry and now I'm late for something very important because you weren't watching where you were going. I think taking you apart piece by piece would teach you a proper lesson."

"Nooooo! Please don't take me apart, I'll never be able to dance again!" If robots could cry, this one would be a snotty mess.

"Well, I guess I'm feeling a bit merciful...tell you what, we can forget this ever happened as long as you get me some information. Think you can handle that?"

"Information gathering is my specialty! What are you looking for? Black markets that sell organs? The best places to buy cereal? The results of the "Who should Commander Lilith marry" poll? I can get you anything!"

This thing knew where to buy illegal organs? Troy really didn't want to know where it got the information for THAT.

"Eh, you've heard of Wyn right? You know how she's got a baby? I want any info you've heard around HQ about him."

"Oh that's easy! Nobody knows anything about him except that he's with Moxxi sometimes and doesn't interact with her customers. And apparently he's a cute little thing! I wouldn't know, you humans judge the strangest things as cute!" 

"That's it?" "That's it! Man that was super easy, feel free to come back to the Almighty Claptrap if you need anything else! I love easy questions!"

Troy rubs his temple in aggrivation as "Claptrap" rolls away badly beat boxing to itself. He decides to sneak around for a little longer, but ultimatly returns to the apartment in defeat.

Better start planning his funeral now.

Kicking off his shoes haphazardly as he walks through the doorway, he breathes out a sigh of relief at not seeing Wyn's there. Good, she wasn't home yet. He had time to figure out how to plead his case.

He makes it into his room and throws himself face first on his bed. May as well enjoy it while he can. Lying there worrying over how exactly his roommate is going to murder him when she gets home, Troy hears a small noise coming from under his bed.

Still laying on the bed, he lifts the edge of the blanket off the floor and peeks underneath. The six month old he'd been looking for was curled up awkwardly in one of his hoodies, fast asleep.

How in the fuck did he end up there?!

Troy grabs onto the hoodie and drags it out into the open, waking it's passenger as he does so. Vael grumbles at him and swats at his hand, but Troy isn't having any of that.

"How in the hell did you get in here?! I've been looking everywhere for you I thought someone stole you! _Have you been in my room the entire time?!"_

Vael of course doesn't answer him, he mearly puffs out an angry little huff before getting on his hands and knees and crawling towards the bedroom door, which opens when he approaches it.

Of fucking course Troy forgot that babies crawl before they walk. OF FUCKING COURSE Troy forgot and therefore didn't bother to look anywhere else in the apartment. He smacked his head on the wall as hard as he could manage in punishment of the stupidity.

He was a goddamn idiot.

Rubbing his forehead he runs out of the room and grabs up Vael from the floor. He couldn't put him down if he didn't want to lose the little booger. Remembering that Wyn usually ties him to her chest, Troy checks the table over by the main door and finds the baby wrap. Grabbing up the dark purple cloth he struggles to figure out how to tie it around himself and the baby securely. He gives up after several minutes of getting tangled, he'd need her to teach him.

Looks like he's carrying baby around everywhere.

Troy takes Vael to the changing table in Wyn's room and gets a clean diaper on him as quickly and carefully as he can, tossing the used cloth diapers into the washing machine to be cleaned later. He pops Vael into his crib for a minute in order to wash up afterwards and contemplates just leaving him in there for the rest of the evening.

He really wants to be mad at Vael for wandering off, but knows it's not Little Guy's fault. Troy has no one to blame but himself for not thinking, for not being prepared to take care of a baby.

He's disappointed in himself. Troy doesn't want Wyn to find out because he doesn't want her to be disappointed in him too. They had only just gotten onto friendly terms, he'd like to think that they could consider each other friends.

She isn't going to want to be his friend after this, if she finds out.

But he can't lie about it can he? Troy may be many things, but he'd like to think being an honest person was one of them. So he was going to have to tell her the truth.

His stomach knots up and his heart sinks at the thought of going back to how things were in the beginning.

Running his fingers through his hair in agitation Troy picks up Vael again and decides that a walk to clear his head is what he needs. They leave the apartment, Troy only stopping for a moment to put in the locking codes, and start heading over to the back enterance of HQ. There's a nice big patch of grass out there, could be a good place for the kid to crawl around and explore. He ignores the stares of those he passes in the hallways and soon steps outside, putting Vael down and motioning for him to explore.

Troy keeps a sharp eye on the kid as he follows along slowly behind him, brooding over everything.

This is why he can't get close to anyone. Eventually he'll fuck everything up and they'll leave him.

Everybody important to him always leaves him.

* * *

It's already dark outside when Troy makes it back to the apartment with Vael. Heading into the kitchen Troy plugs the sink up with a hand towel and starts to fill it with water. He pops into Wyn's bathroom to grab the baby soap and a towel and brings it back into the kitchen. While waiting for the sink to fill Troy grabs one of the baby bottles out of the fridge and places it in the warmer. Checking the temperature of the water and finding it not too hot, Troy gets Vael undressed and sits him in the sink.

He didn't think that crawling around in the grass would get the kid too dirty, but of course he just had to find a patch of dirt that had a leaking water pipe over it, turning it to mud. And of course the curious little booger just had to crawl around in it. At least he hadn't tried to eat any.

Troy opens his mouth to check, just in case.

Washing the mud off him quickly he unplugs the sink and wraps Vael in the towel rubbing him vigourusly with it to get him dry. Grabbing the bottle from the warmer they head into the living room. Tossing the used towel on the armchair Troy gets a diaper on Vael and sits down on the couch, switching the tv on. He leans back getting as comfortable as he can with a baby in his lap and gives Vael the bottle while he zones out.

He isn't paying attention to what's playing on the tv, not able to focus on it as a wave of tiredness hits him suddenly. It's been a long week, and a long night.

Vael leans himself back against Troy's stomach as he sucks at his dinner, little content noises making their way out of the baby. He stares up at Troy, only to close his eyes in happiness as he leans into Troy's hand, who had absentmindedly begun to muss the boy's curly hair.

It's a repetative motion that seems to soothe both of them.

Feeling his eyes getting a bit droopy Troy twists and turns himself until he's laying stretched out across the couch with Vael sitting up on his stomach. He keeps his arm wrapped lightly around his waist so the little guy doesn't fall and just watches him.

Vael watches him back, stopping in his feeding to look into Troy's eyes, before holding his bottle out to him. Troy looks confused at the gesture, not understanding what he wants until Vael tries to stick it in his mouth.

"Pfft, nah I'm good Little Guy, I'm not hungry you finish it." Troy can't help but chuckle at the sweet gesture. Vael pulls a funny face but finishes the last dregs quickly and tosses his bottle to the floor. Noticing that his caregiver doesn't appear to be moving any time soon, Vael lets out a big yawn and lays himself down on Troy's chest, not noticing him stiffen beneath him. He closes his eyes and just enjoys hearing the steady and strong heartbeat beneath his ear.

Troy feels a multitude of emotions that he can't quite put a name on, but wraps his arm more seccurely around Vael and just holds him. Turning his focus to the tv he begins flipping through the channels feeling his eyes growing heavier and heavier. Stopping at the documentaries channel once again, Troy turns his head towards the little boy asleep on his chest, watching his chest rise and fall with each breath.

He lets his worries go and revels in the warmth of the moment as sleep finally claims him.


	9. In the arms of a monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _As you lie upon the floor  
>  Heart filled up with dread  
> The tears slip past, you care no more  
> You wish that you were dead_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings
> 
> This chapter has drug use, an abusive relationship, coercion and rape. If you are someone who has a problem with sexual assault the section after the last line break is not for you.

Choking down another shot of some really strong moonshine, Wyn grimaces and waves her hand for another to be placed before her. Moxxi gives her a look of disapproval while serving the drink but Wyn ignores it and adds yet another glass to her ever growing collection. She had lost count of how many had been consumed just before the room had begun to spin around. It hadn't stopped spinning yet.

She had stormed into the bar early this morning with Vael, begging Moxxi to take him and hand her something strong to try and drown out her anger. Moxxi had been wanting to ask for a while now what was wrong, but decided not to stick her nose where it didn't belong. Still, she subtly pushed a glass of water towards her early morning patron who was absolutely plastered, and began gathering up the numerous shot glasses that were stacked up in front of Wyn.

Vael sat quietly in a highchair, staring at the entrance of the bar intently as if he'd be able to summon whomever he was hoping would walk through the doorway. He refused to make a peep or look at anyone, wouldn't take a bottle when it was offered. Just watched the doorway, getting more despondent as time passed.

Wyn sputters as she tries to down the glass in front of her, glaring balefully at Moxxi and setting it down like it had offended her.

She felt like shit, she was a shitty person. Wyn just didn't know who she was more upset with, Troy or herself.

He had lost track of her son and in his panic had _left him alone in the apartment by himself for nearly an hour._ Troy had clearly been nervous about telling her but had stuttered through the explanation of what had happened anyways.

Her response had been to slap him across the face, gather her son up, and leave before she did anything else she might regret. Wyn wanted to go back and apologize for overreacting, after all he'd never watched a baby before and she hadn't given him a full run down of the do's and don't's of babysitting. A vindictive part of her however reared it's ugly head and told her to let him suffer her displeasure for a while longer.

She shouldn't have hit him, _it was wrong._ She shouldn't have hit him _in front of Vael,_ that made it even worse. The alcohol wasn't helping like she thought it might, plaguing her mind was the look on Troy's face when she'd slapped him. Shock, sadness, and worst of all acceptance, like he'd expected her to react in just that exact way.

"Sugar, I don't know what has you so twisted up that you would drink yourself to stupidity, but I think you should head back and try to sleep it off. I'm cutting you off for today, don't worry about Vael I'll watch him and still have a bag of stuff for him here." Moxxi gently nudges Wyn's head that had found it's way to the bar top, coaxing her to shakily pull herself to her feet. Shooting a salute at Moxxi she stumbles her way back to the apartment, finding it empty.

Of course he wouldn't be sitting around waiting for her to return, she wouldn't either.

Wyn knocks lightly on his door anyways opening it after a few seconds with no response. Empty room, as she expected. Stepping into the room further Wyn checks his laundry basket and finding it mostly empty figures she had no other reason to be in his private space without permission. Staggering about, she hits the floor face first when something gets tangled around her feet. Cursing quietly Wyn pulls a black hoodie with a skull design on the front of it from her feet, gearing up to toss it across the room. She stops herself and pulls it over her instead, satisfied with how it swamps her.

Getting back up is a hassle, especially because the sleeves are so long that they cover her hands up quite a bit and the hoodie stops just above her knees. Somehow she manages to find her way to her bedroom hugging the walls to help keep from falling again.

Flopping onto her bed Wyn pulls the hood up over her head and curls up as best she can inside the pilfered clothing, unconsciously relaxing at the scent still clinging to it. She would apologize to Troy whenever he got back, and they could talk things over like adults.

They wouldn't get to talk for quite some time.

* * *

One of the field teams had a member that was down for the count for the time being, awaiting another surgery after having a grenade detonate right next to where he had been standing during a skirmish. Mac had asked Troy if he'd be willing to fill in on a temporary basis and Troy had jumped at the chance to get out in the field and away from HQ.

The team consisted of three other people who clearly weren't too happy with having a new person added to the roster. Diego was Team Leader, Jackson was his second and Jayda their sniper. All of them gave Troy the cold shoulder, only speaking to him when necessary, Jayda a little less frosty with him than the men.

Fortunately he was able to turn his luck around while out on his first mission with them when an unexpected ambush caught them off guard. Troy had been able to quickly analyze the situation and strategize a counter attack with the team that allowed them to take control and mow down the enemy with no injuries.

Jayda had convinced the others to bring Troy back to their hideout that was just outside the boundaries of HQ after swearing him to secrecy. They'd told him they had to celebrate their new teammate and brought out "the fun stuff" for him to try.

Troy hadn't been able to remember much from that night, just remembered his nose and throat burning as he snorted up the powdery white substance; remembered how much his chest ached from whatever they had had him smoke. He also barely remembered Jayda leaning up against his arm the entire time, running a hand up and down his chest until she'd tugged him to his feet and dragged him off to one of the bedrooms in the hideout.

He was hopeful he'd get a repeat that he would be completely sober for in the near future.

Troy did his best to avoid going home as much as possible, not wanting the reminder of his fractured friendship. He pushed to be sent out more and more under the guise of getting valuable field experience. When he wasn't off-base on a mission Troy was living it up in the hideout trying to get to know the team better. Jackson still pretended like he didn't exist unless out on the field. Diego was pretty cool, telling Troy if he had a preference and needed a hook-up of something specific he'd be able to get it no questions asked.

Jayda was almost always around and willing to listen to what he had to say. Troy found himself wanting to spend more and more time with the petite blonde. He found himself getting quite attached to her, and not just because of the drug-fueled sex either, though that was a bonus. Troy wanted to see if an actual relationship would be possible with her. He'd broached the topic with Diego to get an outside opinion, only to be told it probably wouldn't be a good idea and have Diego leave the conversation.

Still Troy couldn't help his rapidly growing feelings, and found himself growing jealous of her flirting around with others; he got over protective when they were out on missions, putting her safety above his own. Troy hovered around her until she finally snapped and demanded to know what the hell was going on with him. He'd stuttered out his confession of being interested in her only to have his heart sink at the indiscernible look she'd given him before leaving without a word. 

His mood picked up again two days later when she'd come back and told him if he wanted something to happen then he would have to keep it quiet. Fraternization amongst the soldiers wasn't allowed without explicit permission from one of the higher ups, and usually they only allowed pre-existing relationships. Punishment for breaking this rule was banishment from the Crimson Raiders, and since neither of them had anywhere else to go they couldn't risk getting booted. 

Jayda also told him he'd need to lighten up a bit if he wanted to be with her. She found it weird how strict Troy was about protection during sex, unaware of how badly he'd freaked out after their first time when he'd finally sobered up and realized they hadn't used anything. He had gotten a full screening done and been relieved when he came up clean of all diseases. He'd been even more relieved that he'd still had the foresight to pull out when he came. Jayda had assured him it had been a "safe day" for her anyways, but Troy wasn't going to forget again if he could help it. Her annoyance every time afterwards was brief but clear, she'd roll her eyes but take the suppressant from him and inject it into her side anyways.

The large grin that stretched her face when he had informed her that he had never been in a relationship before had made Troy slightly nervous for some reason. Jayda assured him that she'd help him figure out the whole relationship thing and not to worry. He just had to trust her and things would go smoothly.

Something niggled at the back of his mind at her words, but Troy chose to ignore it.

* * *

Despite having a girlfriend now, Troy still felt lonely sometimes. After having been asked by Jayda why he was basically living at the hideout, he'd told her about his fight with Wyn. She had gone from relaxed to stiff and angry in moments, berating him for not informing her that he had a female roommate. When she had demanded to know if Vael was his son, Troy couldn't help feeling confused at her reaction over the whole thing. He assured her that no, he hadn't fathered the boy, nor had he made any promises to act like one. She had calmed down at that and told him it was probably for the best that he was staying in the hideout then.

There were other little things that seemed off as well.

Jayda had a very flirty personality. Troy had been aware of it beforehand, but had thought she'd curb it since they were official now. When he had brought it up with her she'd started crying and asking him why he wouldn't trust her, why he was being so controlling and possessive.

He didn't think he was coming off as controlling, but guilt hit him anyways and Troy assumed he was acting like it without meaning to. So he kept his mouth shut and did his best to brush off the little things.

After all that's what a good boyfriend does right?

Her mood swings confused him a lot too. Jayda would go from cold and distant, almost pretending she didn't know him, to cuddly and affectionate; she'd cling to his arm and flutter her eyelashes at him and tell him of the naughty things she wanted to do. Troy had been observant enough to notice these moments usually had some kind of an audience. Hence his confusion, they were supposed to be keeping the relationship on the down after all. 

She was also getting more persistent about being spontaneous and adventurous with their sex. Jayda enjoyed having sex in semi-public places, the risk of getting caught thrilling to her. It usually made Troy uncomfortable, he'd rather keep this private between the two of them. It felt like it'd be more special that way. But she'd beg and plead with him over and over until he'd go along with what she wanted. She'd gotten him to stop using condoms, reminding him they were both disease free so they weren't necessary. Troy had pointed out that condoms were used for more than disease prevention and Jayda had scoffed at him and said that the fertility suppressants worked just fine.

And they did, when they were used. Random sex when he wasn't expecting it or prepared for it meant that she'd needle him to just fuck her and worry about the suppressants next time. It seemed like he couldn't tell her no, not unless he wanted to be snapped at or ignored. Jayda seemed to have no problem withholding her affection if she felt he wasn't being fair to her.

Dark thoughts began to creep into his brain once again, and Troy was spending more time fucked up on something than sober just to drown them out. Diego would take him out camping every so often just to get him away from everything. They'd take some LSD and zone out. It would be while he was tripping out that Troy noticed the coil of energy that seemed to sit dormant in his body waiting for him to use it. He figured it had to be his Siren powers, too bad he had no damn clue how to use them. Commander Lilith had informed him that she didn't have time or the knowhow to teach him, but was working something out with a Siren contact of hers. He just had to be patient.

He felt like he was spiraling out of control over his own life. And the dark thoughts just kept coming.

* * *

The overall mood in the apartment had been pretty bleak lately. Wyn was loading up the washing machine, a constant knot in her stomach. When she'd gone into Troy's room to gather up any dirty laundry he'd had she'd found a pair of pants and one of his blankets in his basket.

He hadn't been home enough to even _have_ anything pile up.

Checking over the jeans before throwing them into the machine, Wyn finds a crumpled piece of paper. Pulling it out carefully she does her best to flatten it, and is hit with a wave of melancholy.

It's a picture of a beautiful woman with two small children, a boy and a girl, both pulling silly faces at the camera. Wyn can't help the little chuckle that slips out of her lips at Troy, tongue out and pulling on his face like he was trying to imitate something scary. She can tell the picture is old, it's colors faded and the edges yellowing a bit.

Wyn becomes sad at the thought that he had probably intended to throw it away.

Forgoing laundry for the time being, she slips quietly into her room and over to her bookshelf looking for the heaviest books that she owns. Grabbing one down, Wyn very carefully flattens the picture as best as she can and places it in between the center pages before closing the book and piling more of them on top of it.

Hopefully she could get it back to him soon in decent condition.

Stopping at Vael's crib before leaving the room again, Wyn frowns to herself sadly at his restless sleeping form. He hadn't been the same since the day after Troy had watched him. He didn't smile anymore, in fact the only times he had perked up had been the few times that Troy had been home. He always left before a conversation could be started up, ruffling Vael's hair on his way out without a backwards glance. Vael would cry for a time before going completly silent again. It unnerved her greatly.

She pulls the hood up over her head, practically living in the hoodie she'd taken out of his room. His sweats that she'd unintentionally stolen as well were constantly worn. The clothes were comfortable.

Wyn did her best to convince herself that she didn't miss him. She failed miserably.

But he was happy now, he had been assigned to a team that was a man down and apparently was never seen without at least one of them. So she should be happy for him. And she would be if it hadn't been for the rumors that surrounded that particular team.

All of them had gotten in trouble of some form or another, all of them had been threatened with banishment on several occasions. The girl supposedly messed around and had been caught with illegal substances on her person.

However it wasn't her place to voice concerns over people she didn't know. She didn't know them, and Troy was an adult who could make decisions for himself.

But...

If he ever needed her to be there for him Wyn would do her very best. Because even if he hated her now and wanted nothing to do with her, she still considered him her friend.

And she would always be there for her friends, whether they wanted her to be or not.

* * *

It all had to come to a head eventually.

Troy had done everything Jayda told him he should. He didn't go home anymore, didn't speak to or about Wyn and Vael. He'd stopped fighting her on her preferences even though it made him feel gross and he always wanted to keep saying no.

He was being a good boyfriend. So when Diego pulled him aside and told him that Jayda was running around on him and had been seen swapping spit with someone else, Troy just snapped.

He'd found her at the hideout and confronted her. When she started to cry he stood firm and unmoving, her throwing out accusations of him not trusting her garnered no reaction from him either.

A flicker of surprise at his lack of reaction appeared on her face before she smoothed it out to a neutral calm look. Jayda walked out of the room into the bedroom, Troy quickly following along behind her.

She had stopped at the dresser, fiddling around with something on it when he came up behind her; grabbing her arm angrily Troy turned her around to face him and missed the syringe in her hands until it found its way into his chest. Jayda pushes down the plunger to empty the contents into his body and discards the syringe before he has a chance to blink, smirking up at him.

Whatever was in it hits him almost immediately and hits him _hard_. Staggering back Troy finds the edge of the bed and manages to sit on it putting his head down in his hands, nausea building up in his stomach. He feels both horrible and euphoric at the same time, bouncing back and forth between the two at an alarming rate.

"What di...wh...why?" Troy slurs out feeling his body getting heavy and a numbness fans out across his body.

Walking around the room Jayda starts lighting some strange smelling incense making small hums of satisfaction to herself. She stalks over to the bed and looms over him, pushing him down onto his back.

"I gave you a very potent drug cocktail, you were being insufferable and I wanted you to be quiet and relax. It's not like any of the drugs that were in it are new for you." She runs a finger over his abdomen and plays with the band of his pants.

"D-don't..." he manages to get out, trying to push her hand away from him. His coordination is off and all he does is smack his hand lightly against her wrist. Troy's eyesight gets fuzzy around the edges, but he's able to see the scowl of anger cross her face before she's roughly pushing him to the floor. Using whatever control he has left Troy attempts to crawl to the door, begging for Diego or Jackson to be around to help. A foot slamming itself into his back shoots pain into his ribs and his breathing stutters.

Troy feels himself being flipped over onto his back and hands working on the fastenings of his pants. He renews his struggles to get away until his head is jerked to the side with the force of Jayda's blow to his jaw. She strikes him two more times but stills herself when he whimpers in anticipation at a fourth strike.

"Listen Troy, here's how this is going to go," she says as she works his pants off his body. "You are going to stop fighting me and give me what I want, okay?" He is horrified when she strips off her own clothes, his member hardening on its own accord even though he doesn't find any of this arousing in the slightest.

"Stop, please! I don't w-want this!"

"Don't you? Your body says you do. Then again, it's supposed to. I only got the incense for an emergency, never thought I'd have to actually break it out. You see it's made with a very strong and rare aphrodisiac, it'll keep you hard until you've cum and can last for _hours_. Shall we give it a try?"

Jayda doesn't wait for an answer as she straddles him and sinks herself onto his cock, giving off a pleased sigh as she starts to roll her hips. Desperate to get free he swings his arm at her only for her to catch it and punch his jaw again. He hears a small crack and spots dot his vision at the latest blow, Jayda taking advantage of him being stunned to hook her legs around his more securely and picks up her speed. Taking the hand that she had stopped in its tracks she splays the fingers over her lower lips and clit, adding pressure and moaning loudly as she feels the coil inside of her tightening. Slightly shifting her position pushes him into her just a little deeper and finally the head of his cock is hitting her cervix. She shouts as she hits her climax riding out the pleasure for several moments before stilling herself.

Not removing herself from his person Jayda lifts his hand and begins to lick her own release off of his fingers. Troy glares and jerks his hand away, hoping she'd had enough of using him.

"You didn't cum did you? Why do you resist me so much?! You belong to me, so you will give yourself to me fully like I deserve!"

"Never!" Troy snarls at her; uncaring of any injuries he might receive from her he wiggles and thrashes about until he's able to slip out from under her just a bit. Panting with the effort of trying to control his uncomplying limbs, he loses all his breath when she slams her elbow into his chest. Leaning over him, Jayda reaches under the bed and pulls out a wicked looking knife, running the flat of the blade against his cheek.

"You _will_ give yourself to me fully, because if you don't I will remove the appendage that will allow you to give yourself to someone else. And you won't be telling anybody about what has happened here. Because if you try to, I'll tell everyone you overpowered me and raped me. Considering how much bigger you are than me, everyone will believe me over you. Do you understand now Troy?"

He feels his body go limp in defeat. Tears burn at the back of his eyes as she purrs "good boy" into his ear and roughly pats the top of his head. Troy manages to find the will to disassociate from himself while she has her way with his body. His lack of response doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest, in fact it seems to excite her even more.

The shock of his orgasm pulls him back into full consciousness, the tears finally falling as he fills her body with his seed.

When she starts to lick the tears off his face he decides that he wants to die.

A flame of pure anger hits him and builds up in his chest. Troy wants nothing more in this moment than for Jayda to suffer and bleed for what she has put him through. He fails to notice the left side of his body begin to glow, fails to notice Jayda's scared expression as she fingers the knife in her hand before plunging it into her own chest.

The clatter of the knife hitting the floor and the weight of the monster that had been looming over him falling away from his body snaps him back to reality. Troy eyes the knife for a moment, hesitating as he reaches out for it. Curling his fingers around the handle he mutters out _"I'm done with all if this"_ and thrusts the knife into his own chest.

It's some time later that Troy hears a horrified scream from somewhere above him and feels the warmth of a hand pressing itself against his wound. He's not able to see much, but can see a vague outline of someone surrounded by white sobbing and begging him not to die.

He can feel so much warmth coming from their hand on his chest. Troy is glad to get some comfort in his last moments, and manages to place his hand on top of theirs. The pain is even starting to slip away and his head is becoming clearer.

It's peaceful when he is finally pulled under into the blackness.


	10. When we fall we get back up again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can lean on me if you need to

The steady beep of a heart monitor throughout the room is both soothing and depressing. It's soothing in that it means the person attached to it is still alive. It's depressing because it should have never come to this in the first place.

Wyn sat at the bedside with his cold hand in her own, guilt heavy in her heart, tears silently falling here and there.

She had nearly been too late. Wyn hadn't been that scared in a long time. When Diego had come running in a panic through HQ looking for someone in charge, she just knew Troy was in trouble, though she couldn't explain it.

Wyn had grabbed Diego roughly and demanded he take her to her friend; he had grabbed her wrist and hurried off to some building on the outskirts of HQ. Both of them had rushed in and he had led her to a bedroom with a strange smell coming from it. Diego had warned her to cover her face before entering but she had just pushed through the door.

The scene they had walked in on was gruesome.

Wyn had put her hand to Troy's chest trying to stem the bleeding but his heart rate was so rapid the blood was oozing out too fast. She had tried to pull on that power hidden inside of her but it wouldn't respond. Wyn didn't try to stop the sobs that broke out when he weakly grabbed her hand and tried to focus on her.

She had never felt so helpless as she did when his heart stopped beating.

Her utter fury at herself for not being able to heal him like she had before seemed to be the trigger for her power as white lit up the room and his wounds began healing and his heart resumed beating albiet weakly. The knowledge she got from flooding his body with her energy sickened Wyn. So many drugs mixed into his system; his liver and other organs showing damage from consistent abuse of several of the substances. 

A paralytic of some sort was also present, meaning Troy wouldn't have been able to move that well, brusing and a cracked rib and jaw told her he had tried to fight or get away.

That bitch was lucky she was dead already.

It had been almost three days since he had been found, and while she had been able to get him out of danger Wyn didn't have enough control to heal him completly. Troy now had a slightly puckered but healed scar on his sternum, right over his tattoo. She also hadn't been able to flush all the drugs out of his system so he was still unconcious.

But he was alive, he was breathing and his heart was beating.

Whether he wanted to be...well...that was another matter entirely.

Tannis had done an autopsy on Jayda, they had all been interested in what she had discovered. Jayda had killed herself according to the forensics analysis done on her stab wound. It left them all confused. Initially they had thought that she had attacked Troy then herself in an attempt at murder-suicide, but Jayda had already bled out before Troy had been injured.

Tannis had suggested a suicide pact, but Wyn refuted that by pointing out all the drugs in his body was to prevent him from moving. If Troy had wanted to kill himself with her, drugging him wouldn't have been necessary.

Lilith was trying to keep the whole situation hushed, the only thing she had done was officially disband the team and sent the remaining members to other bases run by the Raiders.

A hatred burned in Wyn's chest at the neglegence and hypocrisy of the rules, but she held her tongue and focused her time on trying to use her power to help speed things along. His hand twitches in hers and tightens slightly in her grasp, but he does not yet awaken.

It's still a good sign and she happily putters along with her half-assed meditating and humming, willing herself to feed him healing energy.

When the medic returns to the room half an hour later to check Troy's vitals they find her asleep leaned against the bed, her cheek resting on their joined hands.

* * *

Wyn returns to the medbay later that evening after having woken up to go eat and take a quick shower, Vael in her arms looking anxious as they enter the room Troy was in. He was still asleep but had gained back most of his color, his breathing deep and even. It lifted a weight off of her that she hadn't noticed was there.

Settling back into her chair next to the bed, she quietly shushes Vael as he starts to babble and reach for Troy. Carefully taking the tiny hands in her own she pulls them against his small chest, murmering about how they should let Troy rest because he still wasn't feeling well. Reluctantly the little boy quiets down and leans back against his mother, content for now to watch the sleeping man.

Wyn hums to herself, one hand once again holding onto Troy's while the other plays with her son's white curls. She closes her eyes with a long sigh, and when she opens them again she sees an icy blue staring back at her. 

Something heavy hangs in the air between the two as they stare into each other's eyes; Wyn feels like she can't breathe properly. Her lip begins to quiver and she draws in gasping breaths, feeling tears start to build up. Troy looks concerned at her reaction, his tired eyes going wide as the woman in front of him tries to prevent herself from having a breakdown.

"What happened?"

"You're a goddamn idiot is what happened." She replies in a whisper. "You should have told someone about her, instead we had to get a second hand account from that Diego guy, and he said he didn't even know what exactly has been happening between the two of you. But she did something horrible to you, didn't she?"

His own lip starts to quiver slightly as he turns his head away. "Where...?" "Jayda is dead, she stabbed herself with the knife you used on yourself afterwards. You were bleeding out when we found you. Your heart stopped Troy, I almost couldn't save you."

He fidgits a little, uncomfortable with the tone of despair her voice had taken. Troy had never seen her like this before, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about all of it.

He knew he felt relief that the monster was gone, even if the tiniest part of him felt a saddness at her loss. Troy was quick to squash it down with his anger at her. Monsters like her didn't deserve his pity.

"I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. If I hadn't overreacted, if I had acted like an adult and talked things over with you...well maybe you wouldn't have ended u-"

"It's not your fault so don't blame yourself." Troy interupts her apology, a slightly irritated look on his face. "I just...why did you save me? I don't understand..."

Wyn smiles softly at him, affection clear in her eyes. He squirms like he's just been chastised, unable to understand the feelings bubbling up inside of him. "I saved you because you are my friend, and I didn't want you to die. I'm sorry for everything else. I'm sorry for my selfishness. But I refuse to be sorry for this."

Troy just sits there stunned, he wants to cry when he realizes she is being sincere. He won't though, he'd cried enough lately and the time for crying was over. A smile quirks up his lips though, and he allows himself to bask in the happiness that is overflowing within him.

Vael is quick to remind them of his presence in that moment, leaning forward and smacking Troy's hand angrily. Both adults watch him with shock as he babbles and screams furiously at Troy before he just breaks down and sobs. The look of guilt and pain on Troy's face is a kick to the gut for Wyn. She doesn't think about it, just stands and places Vael into his arms.

Small whispers of "I'm sorry" are repeated as Troy rubs the boy's back softly and cradles him close to his chest. Vael lets off agonized wimpers as he calms down, laying his head on Troy's shoulder.

The beeps of the heart monitor and little sniffles are the only sounds heard in the room for the rest of the night.

* * *

After a very awkward and uncomfortable interegation, Troy is finally released from the medbay. It feels weird to him being in the apartment after not stepping foot in it for a little over a month.

There's an air of...something...hanging about the place. It feels like an echo of melancholy has stained everything, he could almost taste it on his tongue. It didn't sit right in his gut. The apartment used to be so bright and cheerful.

It feels wrong. Everything feels _off_ to Troy, or maybe it's just him. He feels _tainted_ , should he even be around other people? Won't he taint them with whatever is wrong with him as well?

He was bad...right? He had to be, things like what happened with that monster only happened to bad people...right?

Standing alone in his room, Troy feels conflicted. He _wants_ to be happy to be back, _wants_ to feel safe, but he just can't. It's too dark, too quiet, too much to handle right then. He hurries out of the room and into the kitchen where he stands awkwardly in the doorway, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if waiting to be invited in. A look and raised eyebrow from Wyn has him shaking himself from his stupor and Troy sits himself in his seat, fingers twitching uncontrollably.

A twinge from his ribs on the right side of his body flares up and Troy hisses quietly with pain. Wyn's look of semi-amusement is replaced with one of concern and guilt as she hurries over to his side.

"What's wrong?" "Nothing, a small flare up don't worry about it." He's quick to reassure her, before grimacing and grabbing onto his bracer. It had moved out of alignment during the attack and he didn't have the key for it. Troy relays this information to Wyn after she continues to pester him; he finds himself surprised when she pulls a cord out from under her shirt and is presented with a copy of the key.

"Ellie thought a spare would be a good idea since the mechanism is so unique, and since I helped her she told me to hold on to it." Is her reply to his questioning look; with a one-sided shrug Wyn approaches his right arm and tugs at his shirt gently. He hesitates for a few moments then pulls his shirt off in a quick motion, biting his lip to keep from shouting when his shoulder is jarred further.

"Do you want me to help or...?" "Yeah, twisting myself is making my ribs hurt. I won't be able to do it on my own right now."

Wyn feels along the very top of the bracer for the first hole, finding it she carefully inserts the key and turns it counter-clockwise. Feeling the pressure let up, Troy puts his hand up to stop her and she quickly turns the key clockwise to lock that part of the bracer in place. They repeat this for the second mechanism in the middle of his bracer, but stop at the third one under his armpit.

Placing her hand softly against his ribs, Wyn closes her eyes and hums softly to herself. Before Troy can ask her what exactly she's doing her left arm starts to glow white, the light spreading rapidly over her entire left side, then she's glowing everywhere. All he can do is stare in amazement, first at her then at his own body as it seems to light up with the warm glow coming from her. A comfortable heat spreads from the hand on his ribs and Troy feels himself breathing easier as the pain seems to slip away.

The light lingers a few seconds after she pulls away from him before blinking out suddenly. Wyn nods to herself then goes for the third hole, loosening the mechanism then carefully turning the key the other way to start tightening it to conform to his body once again. 

"Is that better, does it pinch anywhere?"

Troy rolls his shoulder carefully, first in a backward motion then a forwards motion. He raises his arm slowly until it is up over his head then brings it back down. A shake of his head has Wyn's lips quirk up in a satisfied smile before she hands the key over to him. Slipping it over his head lifts a bit of the anxiety that was eating away at him; not being able to adjust or remove his bracer if he needed to was a frightening thought.

"Are you hungry at all? I can make you something if you want."

"Um, I'm good thanks. I just...it's too quiet can we do something?"

A thoughtful looks crosses Wyn's face as she walks over to a drawer in the kitchen. Holding up a deck of playing cards she quirks a questioning look his way. At his nod of approval she returns to the table taking a seat across from him and starts to shuffle the deck.

"You ever played 'Bullshit', cause I think I'm in the mood for it." She asks with a challenging smirk. Troy can feel his own competitiveness swell up in response.

"No, but it doesn't mean I can't kick your butt at it." He cracks his knuckles and smirks in a display of confidence, pushing all other thoughts and feelings from his mind. He asked for a distraction and it looked like he was going to get one.

"We'll see." Is the airy reply.

* * *

They played seven rounds until Troy finally won. Wyn hid her amusement at his whining when she declared they were done for the night.

She thought his pouting face was cute, though she'd never say so out loud.

* * *

As he laid in bed that night trying to sleep, Troy was plagued with paranoia. He _knew_ nothing was coming to get him but he could still feel a panic attack building up inside him. Kicking off his blankets Troy grabs one of his pillows and walks quietly into the living room, deciding that the couch sounded like a good place to sleep. Dropping onto the couch he fails to notice his roommate sitting in the armchair sipping on a bottle of ale. He jumps when she addresses him.

"Can't sleep either?" At the shaking of his head Wyn holds out an unopened bottle of ale to him. Troy grabs ahold and swiftly pops the cap off before downing the bottle like a thirsty man finding water in the desert. She opens another and holds it out, but doesn't release it until he's looking at her.

"Try to _enjoy_ this one, yeah?" Troy rolls his eyes but nods and she lets go of her hold on it. They're both quiet as they nurse their ale, lost in their own thoughts. Noticing the pillow he'd brought out Wyn jerks her chin towards it, asking a silent question.

"Uh...well...I just can't stand being in my room by myself. I know it's stupid, a grown man being scared of the dark and all but..." He let's out a tired sigh that someone his age shouldn't have yet. It was the sigh of someone who'd lived a long time and seen too much shit. Wyn gives him a sympathetic look, opening her mouth to say something before snapping it closed again, clearly having changed her mind. Troy gives her a questioning look of his own, his curiosity growing when a light blush stains her face and ears.

"Well...okay don't take this the wrong way or think I'm trying to be inappropriate, cause I'm not, but you could crash in my room if you want? Hell you could have the bed all to yourself, I've actually got a futon I can set up on the floor for me. If...uh if you want, I'm guessing the problem is you don't wanna be alone right now so..." She drifts off uncomfortably at that and refuses to look at him. Troy doesn't know if he should feel offended or not, but realizes that she's right, he doesn't want to be alone.

"I don't want to kick you out of your own bed though." "You're too tall for the futon so don't worry about it."

Chewing on his lip he mulls it over, it sounds appealing but he doesn't want to boot her out of her bed. A thought rushes to the forefront of his mind and he frowns at the stupidity of it. Troy chugs the rest of his ale hoping that'll chase it away.

"Is that a no then or...?"

Rubbing the back of his neck Troy just blurts it out before he can overthink everything. "Whatifwejustsharedthebedthenyoudon'thavetosleeponthehardfloor?"

"Huh? Er, can you repeat that I can't-"

"Just...what if we shared the bed? Then you don't have to sleep on a hard floor or whatever, I can keep myself to myself you know..."

Wyn sits there stunned, but nods even though she looks unsure of the whole thing. Finishing off her own ale she stands and motions for him to follow, a finger on her lips to remind him to keep quiet. He follows her into her room and slips into the bed at the side she pointed him to. Laying on his back staring at her ceiling he manages not to react as she gets into the bed on the other side. Troy can feel her eyes on him but doesn't move, willing himself to just relax. 

A soft "goodnight" is whispered to him which he quietly returns. Closing his eyes Troy works on slowing his breathing down; he startles slightly and his eyes shoot open when he feels a hand slipping into his own. Looking to his left he sees that Wyn's breathing is already starting to even out, her fingers laced lightly through his own. 

He falls asleep comforted by the warm hand in his own, and soft breathing in the room. Thankfully no dreams come to haunt him that night.


	11. In need of a vacation?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Try Athenas! Now with more monks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess the only warning I have is some semi-long winded explanations, but they're important to the story soooo sorry not sorry.
> 
> Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask either in the comments of the story or you can find me on Tumblr @wataredis  
> [](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/wataredis)

Getting back into a routine was easier and harder than Troy had been anticipating. It seemed like the smallest things would have him flinching and jumping, and panic attacks were always on the horizon. He couldn't practice in the shooting range unless he was by himself, otherwise he'd get distracted and bullets would stray. It was the same for the training room. Troy did alright if Wyn was there, but anyone else lurking about set his heart racing.

It felt like everybody was starting at him wherever he went, judging him for his failures and weaknesses.

Nighttime brought no reprieve from his stress, Troy was haunted by nightmares and anxiety. The few times he'd managed to sneak out to the couch to sleep had been restless and he awoke the following day feeling even more tired then when he had gone to sleep.

Wyn had assured him that he was welcome to sleep in her room whenever he needed to but Troy didn't want to impose on her more than he already did.

She told him to stop being stupid and hit him in the face with his pillow, then dragged him off to her room. As much as he hated to admit it, Troy always slept better in there with her and Vael. He barely even stirred when Vael would wake up in the middle of the night or early morning hours, Troy would just pull the covers up over his head and burrow further into the comfortable bed, not waking until hours after Wyn had already gotten up for the day.

He felt like he was getting lazy, she told him he was still recovering and to not push himself too much.

His friend was an enabler, but he wasn't going to call her out on it.

Since Troy was having difficulty being around other people, he'd started taking walks outside where his claustrophobia wasn't as harrowing. Sometimes he'd have Vael with him, tied to his chest with the wrap that he now knew how to use.

It was kind of concerning, but also comforting how clingy Vael was being towards him. It seemed like the little guy never wanted to go to his mom or even Moxxi anymore, just Troy. It was nice to be wanted by _somebody_. He figured it had to be because he had ignored him and stayed away from him for so long. 

Wyn insisted that it was because they had both missed him. She couldn't seem to understand that for Troy it was unusual to be wanted and missed, nobody had ever done so before. But he wasn't going to complain about it.

Being stuck in HQ however, was getting to be too much. Troy needed something different, a change of scenery, even for just a short while would be wonderful.

He hadn't expected his prayers to be answered.

* * *

"So we're finally going to get Siren training? Awesome, when?"

Wyn squirmed with excitement, staring at Lilith expectantly. Finally! If she learned how to use her powers properly, she wouldn't have to worry about almost losing anybody else when she could help. The most recent close call still haunted her day and night, she would have _never_ forgiven herself if she hadn't been able to help Troy.

Speaking of Troy, Wyn looked over his way to see his reaction to the news. As she expected, he was excited but trying very hard to appear stoic to the news. It probably didn't help that Vael was sitting in his lap trying to get Troy to play with the stuffed jabber he was holding, poking his chin with it insistently.

She thought he was doing a good job of acting like nothing unusual was happening, though she had to stifle a giggle when Troy grabbed the toy and dropped it to the ground next to the chair he was sitting in. Vael's look of betrayal cracked the mask Troy was trying to wear, he smiled at the boy slightly and starting mussing his hair to calm him down.

Lilith was looking over a map spread out on the table she was leaning against, therefore missed the whole exchange. Not bothering to look up she shrugged before answering "As soon as you get to Athenas I suppose. Maya will be training you so it's on her schedule, not mine. You guys need to pack immediately since you'll be leaving as soon as you're done. Plan for a long trip, likely months. We'll keep your apartment as is, but won't be sending you anything you forget. You're dismissed."

Rolling their eyes both got up from their seats and returned quickly to the apartment. Packing was a frenzy of clean clothes being thrown about and shouts asking where one item or another was located. When they finished they had 3 duffel bags between them; shooting a last look at the apartment somewhat sadly Wyn is tugged out into the hallway by a chattering Troy.

Mac meets them in the garage, a bemused look on his face as he leads them over to his Technical. Troy's glee is infectious and Wyn finds herself bouncing in place. She never thought she'd get to go to yet another planet.

Even if she was nervous about flying there. Wyn had _always_ hated flying, it was her biggest fear aside from spiders. She shudders at the thought and hyper-focuses on what Troy is saying, pushing her fears to the back of her mind.

Her nerves return when they get to the space port and the reality of the situation is staring her in the face. The ships were _huge!_ Wyn feels herself rooted to the spot, dizzy with dread. She snaps to attention when Troy's larger hand gently grabs her own; a look of sympathy crosses over his face and he pulls her a little closer to his side.

"Are you scared?" He asks in a whisper. Her wide-eyed nod has him squeezing her hand a little tighter. "Don't worry, I gotcha. These are professionally run ships, I'm sure the transition is smooth. We'll be there before you know it." Wyn's disbelieving look makes him chuckle as he tugs her along, ignoring her dragging her feet like she was being taken to her execution.

Mac gets their paperwork settled, then turns to Wyn and hands her a small bottle with some pills in them. At the questioning look he gets, he explains they'll help her sleep on the journey there, then waves them on and departs. Once they're onboard Troy leads her to a seat and pushes her down, popping two of the pills into her hand. Shooting him a grateful look Wyn swallows them dry and closes her eyes.

The pills are fast acting and she's asleep before the ship even leaves port.

* * *

Wyn nearly kissed the ground descending from the platform of the ship. It had been horrible to suddenly wake up and see the blackness of space right outside the window mid flight. She had tried _so_ hard not to cry but inevitably the tears fell as she curled up into a ball underneath a seat. Troy had been quick to pull her out and wrestle her onto his lap, popping a couple more sleeping pills into her hand and holding her as she choked them down. When she had awoken as they were landing, she was still sequestered onto his lap, Vael sitting in the seat next to them looking at a colorful picture book and unaware of his mother's inner turmoil.

She didn't care about the scenery or the people around her at that moment as she threw herself onto the ground, hugging it to the best of her abilities. Never again, Wyn was never going to fly on another ship if she could help it.

Why the hell couldn't they have used one of the New-U Fast Travel machines to get here?! Oh yeah, Lilith didn't have the coordinates for the place. Guess she wasn't as friendly with the resident Siren here as she pretended she was. Speaking of, it appeared that she wasn't at port yet, Wyn didn't see any women with bright blue hair and Siren tattoos waiting on them.

Whatever, it gave her time to compose herself.

Dragging herself up off the ground after realizing she'd flopped down in the middle of the walkway, Wyn staggered out of the way over to the far side of the port away from the few hooded people that were milling about. She leans up against a machine puffing out a breath before being blinded by it suddenly lighting up.

Quick Change? What in the hell was this thing?

Pulling out her Echo Wyn syncs it up to the machine and a menu pops up for customization options. Clicking on the one labeled 'Skins' she chooses one of the sub-options and nearly drops the Echo when her clothes and hair change to differing shades of green.

Fascinating!

Pulling up a lock of hair Wyn looks it over carefully, expecting to see a shimmer of a hologram layered over it. Instead it appeared that her hair had just been instantly dyed green. A hysterical giggle slips out of her mouth as she turns back to her Echo, eagerly scrolling through the other skins available for her to play with.

She had just applied one that changed everything she was wearing to a hot pink color and her hair to a candy floss pink when Troy stomped over, irritation clearly on his face and Vael firmly sequestered on his hip.

"What the hell are you doing?! We're supposed to be keeping an eye out for that Siren chick that is supposed to teach us."

"Troy, lookit! This thing changes how you look _instantly!_ Look look it's so freaking cool! And it's not putting a hologram on you, it legit dyes everything! Try it!" Returning to the 'Default' setting Wyn disconnects her Echo and grabs Vael while pushing Troy in front of the machine. She bounces with excitement while he sighs and pulls out his own Echo and syncs it up to the Quick Change. His curiosity was peaked when the menu popped up; looking to Wyn she pointed at the 'Skins' option and stared at him hard when he clicked on the first one. 

Being green from head to toe was...interesting. Troy could see what had caught her attention.

Wyn pulled her Echo out again and was giddy with joy when she was able to connect hers while Troy was still synced up to it. The two played around trying different looks, laughter breaking out at some of the more ridiculous color and pattern schemes. They failed to notice their new trainer walking up to them, until a throat clearing behind them alerted them to the outside world once again.

It was almost comical how quickly they whipped their heads around, however Maya was not impressed by the two in front of her. Her first impression of them?

They were both clearly idiots.

They shuffled in place awkwardly, embarrassment clear on their faces. Vael just studied the woman in front of them before waving a small hand at her. Her stern look softening had both Wyn and Troy quietly sighing with relief.

"So, am I right in assuming you guys are Troy and Wyn?" At their nods Maya turns on her heel and waves a hand for them to follow. "Welcome to Athenas. I'm Maya, I'm the one in charge around here and I'll be teaching you how to properly use your powers. First question, why are you trying to break one of my Quick Change machines?"

Wyn's stuttered explanation of never having seen one is halted when she stops moving, mouth hanging open as she stares in awe at the landscape around her. A layer of mist floating over giant lakes, towering mountains off in the distance with trees with red and orange leaves growing outwards out of the side of them, and the structures were reminiscent of Old World Asian designs.

In short, Athenas was tranquil and stunning.

"You think this is impressive, you haven't seen nothing yet." Maya quips towards her amusement heavy in her tone. They continue on their way, Troy and Wyn taking in everything around them hungrily. Something felt right about this place, deep in their cores they felt like someone was reaching out welcoming them home. The energy coiled within them thrumming with contentment.

Maya leads them to a quaint little building on the outskirts of the main square, giving them a quick walkthrough and informing them it'd be their home while on Athenas. She tells them to meet up with her later after they get settled in to go over their training and struts out with a wave over her shoulder. Wyn carries Vael into the room that had been set up as a nursery and after getting him settled puts him down in the crib for nap. She meets up with Troy in the only other bedroom in the building and helps to put their various packed items away.

It's a good thing they were already used to sharing a room, or this would get weird fast.

She aims a kick at Troy's shins on his way out of the room as he declares loudly that he gets forever dibs on the shower, his snickering making her smile to herself despite being irked. His good mood made her happy, and she was hopeful that it'd shine through more now that they were away from the Crimson Raiders and the bad memories.

Even though Wyn is all too aware that the bad thoughts and memories never really leave a person, they just become easier to handle. Still, new place fresh start and all that. Making her way out of the bedroom she goes looking for Troy and finds him on the back porch staring off into the distance. A light breeze teases his hair across his face but he doesn't seem to notice it, lost in whatever was eating away at him. His body language told her it was probably his anxiety back to haunt him again. She moves over to stand next to him, lightly nudging him with her elbow. A smile breaks out on her face when he nudges her back.

Wyn would do her best to remind him he didn't have to face things alone anymore. The smirk on his face softening to something more affectionate and his hand coming to rest on her head an acknowledgement to her unspoken support.

* * *

"So how far have you gotten in your training? Lilith didn't tell me much, just that she was sending two Sirens my way."

Troy scratched the back of his neck nervously, he still wasn't even sure that he _was_ a Siren, his powers having come from his sister. He picked at the grass underneath where he was sitting on the ground while conveying this to Maya. A hum of consideration is his reply and he looks up to see both her and Wyn studying him, Maya like he was something interesting, Wyn like he was stupid. He scowled at her and she just rolled her eyes assuring him he was a Siren.

"How exactly would you know that?" "Well that's easy, when I healed him I felt his powers. They're just sitting there waiting for him to use them."

Troy fidgets when they both look his way again. He pulls pieces of grass up and starts braiding them together, ignoring their expectant faces at the unasked question.

So he didn't have the slightest idea of how to even _begin_ to access these so-called hidden powers, so what?! It's not like he had ever needed to before. He frowns when he remembers that yes, he _had_ needed them, had been helpless and they could have saved him some serious heartache and trauma.

Maya sighs and rubs her face before placing her chin into one palm clearly thinking about how she wanted to start things off. 

"Okay we'll start with the very basic stuff first. What do you guys know about auras?" At their blank looks she sighs heavier and shifts herself into a meditative position. "Alright, so auras, every living thing in existence has one. Some non-living things have them too. Each one is unique to the individual or thing, and can be identified by color and scent. Sirens are special because we have an innate connection to almost everything in the universe. Most Sirens instinctually train their auras as soon as they come into their powers."

Wyn raises her hand quickly and Maya nods her way. "When are Sirens supposed to come into their powers? Is it like puberty?"

"I'm guessing you've just recently gotten your powers then?" When both nodded at her Maya continued with her explanation. "Well, most Sirens are born with their powers, but their powers stay dormant until the Siren is about five or six years old. What I've been able to read on the matter is that the abilities are supposed to stay dormant as to not interfere with a Siren's natural development. Our abilities are usually destructive and dangerous to some degree, if we started using them while growing in the womb it puts the mother at risk of dying or her body terminating the pregnancy on its own. There is also major development that happens in the fundamental years that a Siren's abilities could hinder as well. There have been cases of them coming out of dormancy early however, usually if the Siren in question is in a life or death situation."

Troy raises his own hand and the question rolls off his tongue before she can call on him. "What about a Siren's abilities and markings changing, how does that work?" Maya's confused face has him elaborate, "My marks used to look very different, and were a different color even. Also, I used to have to be fed energy by my sister or I'd wither away and die. Since my marks changed, I haven't had to 'feed' off of anybody but I don't know _why_ they changed."

"I think I can answer that maybe." Wyn pipes up from beside him. "When Troy was first brought into the Crimson Raiders he was fairly injured. I er, decided to poke around at him and my healing abilities started up. As I was trying to disengage from him I felt my own energy being pulled heavily in two different directions, and after a few minutes this glowing...thing pulled itself off of Troy before it screeched and exploded."

"Wait, what?" Maya looks dumbfounded for a moment then looks confused again. "Um, so this thing pulled itself off of him and then 'died' in an explosion? Do you remember anything else before that happened?"

Wyn shifts a bit uncomfortably but sighs and nods. "Yeah, there was this...thought? Voice? That popped into my head and kept repeating itself over and over. _'Heal the body, purge the parasite.'_ I don't know what it was or what that meant, obviously healing his body made sense but parasite? That stumps me. Anyways afterwards his new marks spread over his body as they are now."

"Parasite...something I'll have to look into further, this whole thing sounds sort of familiar. However, no it isn't common for a Siren's powers or marks to change so I'm not sure what exactly happened to you, but it shouldn't keep you from being able to use them in the future. Which brings me back to my first point. Auras. A Siren's aura is tied to their powers, so if you want to be able to use your powers on command you need to master finding and identifying auras. Once you can do that, you can find your powers and draw on them. So my lucky new apprentices, as a welcome gift for coming to Athenas I'm assigning you homework! Yay! You are to meditate, day and night if you need to, until you can find each other's auras."

Troy can't help but grimace, his actions mirrored by Wyn. Maya looked entirely too pleased with herself, smiling far too sweetly but also showing some teeth as if daring them to refute her. Wyn chews on one of the hoops in her lip, looking over at Vael who had been sitting in the grass on the other side of her quietly playing with a toy. He knew what she was worried about but before either of them could say anything Maya looked over Vael's way and her smile became less threatening.

"Don't worry about him, we get orphans all the time and have a building set up just for them. He can go there during the day and play with some kids his own age while you two try to figure this out. And I'm not taking no for an answer. In fact, no time like the present! Go ahead and start meditating, the sooner you get this down the sooner we can start on the really fun stuff."

Maya stand in a fluid motion and grabs up Vael before either of them can protest and she's gone from their backyard in the blink of an eye. Troy tries to gauge Wyn's mood but her face is strangely blank. She seems to shake herself out of her funk and sits herself in the same pose Maya had been sitting in, Troy is quick to follow her lead. He just wanted to get this done already.

Meanwhile not too far from the apprentice's new home, Maya strolled into the orphanage in the center of town. Chatting with a few of the monks she passed she let herself into the playroom set up for the younger children.

"Who do we have here?" Asked the matron in charge over this age group. "Is he a new orphan Lady Maya?"

"Nah," was her quick reply as she set him down on a mat next to a toybox, "he's my new apprentice's kid. And while Mommy and Daddy are figuring out meditation, he's going to get to be a kid and play. Isn't that right Vael?"

Vael just gives her a wide-eyed look and crawls over to a quiet corner, ignoring everything and everyone around him. He lies down and studies the other children around him for a moment then closes his eyes. The adults in the room don't find this behavior strange, assuming he was just lying down for a nap. They fail to notice that his deep breathing isn't the breathing of one who's asleep, nor do they notice when he opens his eyes again.

Therefore they don't see the slight glow in his eyes as Vael studies everyone with a new perspective, identifying and memorizing their unique signatures.


	12. When teacher is away, the students play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or the one where two idiots ditch homework to inadvertantly do homework

They had wanted to work on their meditation, really they did, but after an hour of sitting quietly trying to empty their minds they had both reached the same conclusion.

Meditation was _super_ boring.

Wyn was the first to break even though she had infinitly more patience than Troy on any other given day. Letting out a frustrated sigh she dropped onto her back and blew a raspberry at the sky while stretching her legs out and poking him, breaking his already fragile concentration. He did his best to ignore her and stay composed, which Wyn took as a challenge. Sitting up she plucked a piece of grass and lightly ran it over his nose, getting a twitch as a reward. Emboldened, she lightly traced his ear with it avoiding the plug in his ear. He had recently gone up another size so his lobes were a bit sore and sensitive, and she wasn't _that_ mean.

Troy swatted at her hand, still with his eyes closed and maintaining his meditative positioning, though Wyn could tell he was close to breaking by the twitching of his right eye. She pulled away from him for a couple of minutes and watched as he relaxed and let his guard down again before striking, jabbing a finger into the spot just below his ribs that she knew was ticklish. He squeaked like a mouse before lunging at her and pinning her with her face down in the grass. Her muffled laughter and apologies were enough for Troy to let Wyn back up, wrapping his arms around his torso to protect his weak spot and shooting her a grumpy glare.

"This is boooooring! Let's do something else, we can meditate before bed, at least that way when it makes me fall asleep it'll have a purpose."

"Aren't _you_ supposed to be the responsible one here?" Troy asked with a scoff and roll of his eyes even though she could tell he agreed with her. Wyn pulled a face at the sheer audacity.

"Me responsible?! Who the hell told you that?! Who is spreading lies about me, I demand to know!" Her mock outrage gets him cracking up even as he attempts to cover it with a faux coughing fit. Wyn goes to poke him again and he slaps her hand away before sitting on her. Her cries of him fighting dirty are mostly ignored as Troy attempts to compose himself into a serious facade once again.

"What do you suggest we do then? Maya told us we can't do anything else until we get this whole aura thing down."

"Find a way to make it less boring. We're on a new planet why can't we go explore or something?" She whines out pathetically from under him while trying to wiggle herself free. "C'mon Troy, you can't tell me you're in the right mindset to do this right now either. Let's go look around a bit then we can try again. Please?" She knows she's won when he sighs and stands up grabbing her hand and yanking her along in the process.

"Fine, fine. But I'm not the one taking the blame if we get caught and in trouble. I was dragged away against my will and that's that." He's quick to walk off, a small bounce in his step. She nearly calls him out on it but decides it wasn't a fight worth having. Instead she runs and jumps on his back causing him to wave his arms around to keep from toppling over. A flinty glare over his shoulder at her just has Wyn giving him the sweetest smile she can manage. She rubs her cheek against his while adjusting herself to cling to him better and misses the blush that heats his face. Troy just turns his head the other way and continues up the path he'd started walking on making sure to grab her legs to keep her secured on his back.

They marvel at everything around them, stopping every now and then to speculate about one thing or another and trying to avoid people as much as possible. Didn't need someone to snitch them out to Maya for ditching their "homework" after all. Reaching a cliff Wyn slips off of Troy's back and starts to climb, wanting to get a better view of everything. It takes about five minutes to get to a large flat piece of the cliff jutting out that they could sit on. Pulling themselves onto it the two sit comfortably side-by-side watching the monks mill about below.

Pulling out her phone from her pocket Wyn pulls up her music library and selects a playlist with piano covers. Troy lightly hums in approval as the first notes start to play, leaning back on his hands a bit and lifting his face to the sun. She watches him close his eyes and his lips pull up into a small smile. Wyn closes her own eyes and leans against his side soaking in the heat he gives off. They stay like that for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

The pleasant scent is the first thing he notices as he comes back into consciousness. Troy hadn't even been aware he'd fallen asleep, but he could feel himself lying down on a hard surface, quiet music still playing. Opening his eyes Troy blinks quickly and rubs them, trying to understand what he was seeing. The trees above him seemed to have a glow around them. Turning his head to the left to look at his companion who is curled up into his side, Troy can see a glow surrounding her as well. The scent he smelled was coming from her, a pleasant mix of cream, honey, and blackberries. The glow is what intrigues him however, it wasn't the white light he was used to seeing when her powers were active. It was a periwinkle purple color tinged in a darker purple that reminded him of something toxic. Looking off in the distance Troy can see more glowing colors wrapped around the people and plants, a literal rainbow before his eyes.

Was this what seeing auras was like?

Lightly tapping Wyn's nose Troy manages to wake her and swiftly dodges the swipe she makes at him already knowing how she'd react to being woken. He sees her glaring at him sleepily before her eyes go impossibly wide and she starts rubbing at them. Shooting her a grin he carefully grabs her chin and turns her head outward towards the bustling of people in the distance, her startled gasp confirms that she sees it all too.

Troy studies himself but isn't able to see the glow on himself. Frowning with disappointment he can't help but feel that there _was_ something wrong with him. Wyn's little "oooh" sound she makes while she looks at him confuses him until he sees her eagerly look down at herself only to frown as well. So they could see others, just not themselves.

"What color am I?" He asks her, a cord of doubt still sitting in his gut as he awaits her answer nervously.

"It's sort of a darker green, a forest green I'd say. But it's tinged in this toxic purple color too. What's really tripping me out is your scent, it's strong enough that not only can I smell your aura I can _taste_ it too. You remind me of chai tea I think, I can smell ginger, clove and...cardamom. It's very soothing. What about me?"

He can see she's nervous too and it makes him feel better that he's not the only one worried about having something wrong with them. Troy's description of her color and scent has her looking happy and weirded out at the same time. Wyn's brow furrows as she stares off into the distance once again.

"You okay?" Concern laces his question as he taps on her shoulder. She shakes her head and looks back at him with a smile.

"I'm alright, just trying to figure out if we can find Vael and Maya. We should go look for them now that we can sense auras. And maybe ask how to turn it off." She is pondering something before horror overtakes her face. "Oh my god Troy, what if we can't turn it off now that it's been turned on?! This is cool but I'm already getting a headache from it! Also how are we supposed to find our powers if we can't see our own auras?"

Troy hadn't considered that but realizes it could be a problem. He helpfully shrugs his shoulders and she drops her face into a deadpan look, a muscle in her left cheek twitching tells him she's on the verge of smacking him probably. Troy can't help but egg her on by giving her a shit-eating grin, therefore isn't surprised when she smacks his arm though he yelps and whines like a kicked skag pup. Shaking her head at him Wyn grabs her phone and turns it off then stands and stretches her arms over her head. Without waiting for him to stand she gets to the edge of the cliff and starts to scale down it, his petulant cries of "wait for me!" ignored.

As they traverse back towards the little town the two do their best to try and find their new mentor's signature. Troy can feel a headache building up right behind his eyes, and when he closes them for a moment hoping to get a reprieve he feels cheated when he discovers that having his eyes closed doesn't turn it off.

It is kind of cool that he could walk around with his eyes closed and probably wouldn't have to worry about running into anything or anyone, but it sucked that if they couldn't turn it off his already shitty sleep would continue to get worse. There was no way all the light and color he was "seeing" would allow him to get any rest.

The smallest glimpse of that toxic purple color catches his attention and Troy zeroes in on it. It's a tinge on top of a teal aura that smells like warm cider and salt water. Not noticing the purple tinge on other auras besides his and Wyn's Troy deduces that it is something unique to Sirens. Stalking towards the aura that now has his attention he barely notices Wyn struggling to keep up with his larger strides. Sure enough it leads them to Maya who is holding a sleepy looking Vael on her hip, the little boy rubbing his eyes and wimpering slightly. He perks up when Troy approaches and reaches for him, Troy taking him into his arms without a thought. Rubbing Vael's back as he settles down Troy is quick to memorize his aura. A golden yellow color like honey and a scent he can't quite place. Looking to Wyn with a silent question and nod towards Vael he sees her focus on the boy and inhale deeply.

"Orange blossoms and morning dew. Fitting for him actually, light and fragile and pure. Wonder if it'll stay that way as he gets older."

Troy doesn't doubt for a second that Vael will stay as pure as he is now, there's something about the boy that just screams his soul is a good soul. He is oddly proud and comforted at the thought.

"So you guys figured it out already? Huh, it took me months of meditation to get it, I kept getting so bored with it. How'd you do it?"

They look at each other nervously before Wyn puts on an air of confidence and proclaims "we're just that good!" Troy follows her lead internally sniggering at their utter bullshit. He can tell Maya doesn't believe it either, but she's having difficulty keeping an angry stern look on her face with the little spasms her lips are making.

"Uh huh, right. So then you can draw on your powers now?" Her smirk of triumph is full of teeth when their faces fall at her question. "Rule number one, don't try to bullshit a bullshitter. Now really how'd you do it?"

"We sorta, kinda, just ditched and went exploring for the afternoon. Made our way up a cliffside and put on some music and eventually fell asleep. Woke up and glowing rainbow everywhere. Can't figure out how to turn it off though, does it turn off?" Wyn is quick to rush out trying to combat an angry reaction to their disobediance.

"Yes Wyn, it'll turn off when you connect to yourself. I told you to find each other's auras so you would learn what yours is like. Now you know so search for it specifically, focus on your chest area. That is where your core for you power lies."

Troy watches Wyn close her eyes once again and tips her chin down towards her chest. A few moments later he hears her sigh of relief as her markings flash white then quickly settle back into their standard silver. He closes his own eyes and wills himself to "see" into his core in his chest. A caress against his mind like a greeting from an old friend whispers something to him and he can finally see and feel his energy. Snapping his eyes back open relief washes over him at having his sight return to normal.

"I heard something in my head, what was it?" The frantic question is flung at Maya in an accusational tone. He didn't want anything messing with his head, he had enough problems.

"I did too actually, is that normal?" Wyn is quick to follow up with her own question.

"Depends on what you heard. Tell me."

"Phasebalance. Just that one word. What does it mean?" Maya doesn't answer Wyn yet, looking to Troy waiting on what he heard.

"Um, mine was Phasethrall." He shifts from foot to foot, looking up at the sun starting to set in the sky bathing it in rich orange and purple hues. Tired grumbling noises from his shoulder reminds him of his young passenger in his arms and Troy starts to head home, hearing the girls follow along behind him.

"That would be the name of your individual abilities. All Sirens have one, mine is Phaselock for instance. Lilith's is called Phasewalk. The only other ability I know of was called Phaseshift, but the Siren who weilded it died some years ago unfortunately. We all learned the names when we connected with our powers for the first time the same way you have. Now that you can draw on it, we can start to figure out what they do and have you use them. Good job apprentices, we'll start in two days since tomorrow is a punishment day for disobeying me."

Identical sighs of resignation are tiredly let out as they entered their abode for the night.

* * *

The following day consisted of Troy and Wyn standing balanced on one foot each, their arms outstretched straight from their sides, stacks of books on their hands and heads. Maya told them to meditate without moving a muscle, and if either of them did she'd start the time for the exercise over. It was only supposed to be five minutes on one foot then they'd switch over to the other for another five minutes. They'd been stuck in the first position for about four hours, Maya sitting at the small table on the back porch sipping tea and occasionally Phaselocking dirt clods to throw at them. One of them would inevitably twitch and she'd happily proclaim the time starting over.

Maya had told them if they meditated deeply enough nothing would be able to distract them. Wyn felt like she had too much pent up energy and couldn't focus enough, a sentiment shared by Troy.

Neither of them dared to complain about anything however, knowing the punishment was deserved. Fortunately they didn't need to, Maya huffed out a breath of irritation at the lack of progress and called them over to join her at the table. She would have laughed at their relieved scrambling if she hadn't wanted to slap them so badly.

"C'mon you guys have _got_ to be messing with me, how are you not getting it?" She grouches out to them, only to internally berate herself when their faces fall into ashamed looks. Pinching the bridge of her nose Maya takes a moment to calm herself and think hard about the previous day.

"Wyn, you said you guys were listening to music yesterday right? Pull it up again, we're going to try and get you to meditate while it's playing."

Wyn scrambles inside eager to please her mentor. Maya and Troy sit staring at the tea set on the table, hearing the occasional swear coming from inside and the crashing of things being thrown about. Maya catches a tiny affectionate smile on Troy's lips that he drops once Wyn comes running out of the house panting and holding aloft her phone and speaker. Getting a nod from Maya Wyn hands the unlocked phone to Troy allowing him to choose the music selection while getting the speaker set up on a rock over where they had been attempting to meditate.

Choosing a playlist that consisted mostly of soft jazz and bluegrass, Troy joins Wyn over on the lawn. As they go to sit down Maya clears her throat loudly and points at the stacks of books, glaring them down until both groan loudly and pick up the books to resume their previous stances.

Maya waits about ten minutes, watching her apprentices carefully until they appear quite relaxed and their bodies are still, before Phaselocking a pebble on the ground and flinging it their way. She's immensely pleased when neither of them react to it. She continues to pick things up and toss them towards the two, even managing to hit Wyn between the eyes at one point. A scowl slipped onto her face, but Maya gave her a pass for that one since she hadn't meant to hit either of them.

Calling for them to switch their positions Maya goes to sip at her tea again but frowns when her cup comes up empty. She whistles to Wyn and Troy and calls them over.

"Good enough, you're to meditate every day for at least an hour. I'll know if you don't do it so don't try to fuck off with it again. I'll pick you guys up tomorrow morning to drop off Vael and take you over to the training grounds. There won't be anyone else there since everyone else on Athenas has taken a vow of non-violence so we don't have to worry about any civilians distracting us or getting injured. I know I told you you'd be doing this all day but I'm out of tea and bored to death just sitting here so be grateful and don't piss me off again."

Maya's jacket billows dramatically as she stands with a flourish, giving them a salute as she leaves to do her own thing.

Wyn sags into her seat, head hitting the table while Troy pats her on the back, condinsendingly saying "there there" as he does so. She half-heartedly swipes in his general direction not bothering to look up or care if she actually smacked him. As he stands and stretches she turns her face his way, giving him the best puppy eyes she can manage and holds her arms up.

"Carry me inside? Pleeeeeeease?" "Are you serious right now? No stop giving me that look, I'm not doing it." Troy shifts his weight ready to turn and head inside when she throws the perfect bribe his way.

"I'll bake you cinnamon rolls with extra thick glazing." Is flung his way in a sing-song voice. She knew she had him hook, line, and sinker. He devoured dozens of them if she didn't keep an eye on him when she got around to baking the treat. Wyn had let him get away with overindulging himself the first time, thinking a stomach ache would be a good lesson. Troy had thrown it all up then proceeded to eat more to make up for wasting what he'd already consumed. Never again, he was irresponsible when it came to sweets.

Troy scooped her up and carried her into the kitchen with gusto, setting her down on her feet in front of the stove and looking like a kid at Christmas. She sighed since she hadn't meant _right now_ but started pulling out ingredients, laughing at his childish cheering.

He was only getting one when they were done, she'd find somewhere to hide the rest. After all, having a good bribe on hand was just smart strategizing.


	13. I spy in my mind's eye...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The things that cause your soul to cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings of implied/referenced rape and miscarriage near the end of the chapter after the last line break.

Blearily opening an eye, she goes to stretch and finds herself pinned down underneath another body, light snoring in her ear. Wyn grumbles to herself as she shimmies and wiggles attempting to get out of the death grip Troy has on her. He was the _biggest_ bed hog she'd come to discover, not that she could complain _too_ much. Wyn never had to worry about getting cold at night again, although she could do without him digging his cold feet into her lower back or under her legs at night.

Huffing in irritation she finally jabs her elbow repeatedly into his ribs until he groans and pushes her away nearly throwing her out of the bed. She watches Troy grab the blankets and roll himself up in them until only tufts of his hair can be seen poking out.

So it's going to be like that is it?

Placing her feet at his shoulders and lower back Wyn pushes against him softly, ever so slowly moving his body towards the edge of the bed. She stops just before he's about to fall waiting for his indecipherable grumblings to cease, then sends him crashing to the floor. Wyn leaves Troy trying to squirm out of the tangled mess he was stuck in, cursing her out with increasing volume, and heads into the nursery to get Vael ready for the day.

"Why the fuck did you do that?!" Is screamed at her from the other room. Wyn tunes it out, humming to herself as she gets Vael dressed in one of the outfits Troy had bought him. It had initially irked her that he decided to purchase things for her son without discussing it with her first, but Wyn had to admit Troy had good taste and Vael looked damn cute in the stuff so she had let it go. Placing him on her hip she leisurely walks into the kitchen, pointing at things and saying their names to Vael as she does so. He should be talking soon enough, although his babbling was still incoherent. Setting him into his high chair Wyn pulls out some baby food and puts it in a bowl for him. It didn't matter if he made a mess he'd be getting a bath afterwards.

Still humming to herself Wyn doesn't notice Troy stomping up behind her until he grabs a lock of her hair and pulls on it.

"What the fuck Wynter?! You have issues you know that?" He snarls at her and pulls on her hair again. As he opens his mouth to start on a proper diatribe Wyn stuffs a cinnamon roll into his mouth effectively silencing him.

"Quit bitching, if you didn't insist on strangling or smothering me when asleep I wouldn't have to get rough with you in order to get out of bed in the morning. Honestly I think I'd murder you if you snored loudly on top of everything else."

Troy has the decency to look abashed and just sits down to focus on his breakfast, tearing small strips off of the treat and savoring it. Wyn sets a glass of milk down in front of him and pulls a face after he dips in a piece of the cinnamon roll then pops it into his mouth, humming happily.

Weirdo.

Wyn shakes her head muffling a chuckle with a fist. Placing the bowl of "baby mush" as Troy called it in front of Vael she grabs up a small spoon and attempts to feed her son. As he does every morning Vael smacks the spoon away giggling loudly and trying to stick his hands in the food instead. Sighing heavily she pulls the bowl away and holds it over her head while working the spoon around his flailing arms and towards his mouth.

It's several minutes of fighting with baby boy before Wyn feels the bowl and spoon pulled out of her hands by Troy, who proceeds to help himself to her lap. Wyn can't see anything other than his back but hears Vael quiet down. Peeking out from under his arm she's amazed and irked to see Vael eating quietly, eyes locked with Troy's own. The stern look on his face clearly told both her and Vael that he was all business right now.

Wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her forehead against the middle of his back Wyn squeezes him lightly in thanks for his help. She closes her eyes and focuses on his scent, slipping into that headspace that allowed her to turn on the aura sight. It really was strange how she could see a cornucopia of colors pop into existence while having her eyes completely closed, but this time it didn't worry her and she could focus better on searching out a specific one. Maya's aura was approaching their home slowly, being stopped occasionally by a monk for a conversation. 

"Maya will be here soon." Is murmured into the room, a hum of acknowledgement given in reply. Troy continues to feed Vael at a steady pace feeling no need to rush things along. Wyn turns off the sight and relaxes against him until she dozes off. She jolts partially awake when he finally moves off her lap but goes under again as he lifts her up and carries her into the living room, placing her onto the couch carefully.

The smell of coffee greets her later on along with a hand running through her hair and resting on her forehead. Wyn blinks open her eyes, the sight of Troy leaning over her with a mug of coffee instantly perking her up. She mumbles a thanks as she takes it and sips, her hum of enjoyment changing to an indecent moan once it hits her tongue. Eyes flying open wide Wyn sees Troy's face darken with a blush to match her own, a laugh breaking out announces Maya sitting and watching the whole exchange.

"Sorry," Wyn squeaks out, "wasn't expecting the flavor, where'd you get flavored creamer? Isn't it impossible to find?"

A snort comes from Maya as she tries to calm herself, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "Being the leader of Athenas comes with _some_ perks ya know. We have orchards with fruit that grows only here amongst other goods and we do business with other planets for their exports. Promethea distributes coffee and similar goods and we do trade fruits and grains with them. Since I seem to be the only person on this planet that drinks the stuff I decided to go all out and treat myself. Can't stand black coffee, won't drink that bitter shit. Troy told me you live and breath this swill every morning so thought I'd treat ya and give you some creamer."

Wyn smiles brightly at her mentor, managing to elicit a dusting of pink out of her before Maya waves her off and joins Vael on the floor. Remembering that they were doing more training today Wyn cringes but gulps down her mug of love and dashes into the bedroom to change into workout sweats and a sports bra. Finishing off a braid as she exits the room Wyn catches Troy staring at her; he is quick to look away once he notices he's gotten her attention and goes into the bedroom to change his own clothing to something more flexible. The look he'd been giving her made her want to squirm with the sudden fluttering in her stomach.

What was up with that?

* * *

After getting Vael cleaned up Maya took them to the orphanage and introduced them to Sister Ingrid before dragging her apprentices to her private training grounds. Being led over to an open area with cushions on the ground, Troy sits down when Maya motions for him to with Wyn following suit.

"Alright," she begins, "we've found your powers, now you need to train how to use them. It won't be that easy, a Siren's power seems to have a sentience of it's own at times. We need to know what your powers do so let's do an exercise to help with summoning them at will."

Maya joins them on a cushion of her own pulling her satchel she'd been carrying off her shoulder as she does. Pulling out a smooth clear crystal she holds it up for them to see. "This is a focus crystal, they were developed here on Athenas by the Sirens of old. I'll take you to the crystal caves another time, but the writings say Sirens used these to train themselves to call on their energy. It's simple, cup the crystal in your hands as you meditate and it will help you divert your energy to your hands. Let's begin."

Maya passes out two more crystals then slips into her meditation. Troy watches the crystal in her hand begin to glow along with the markings on her body. He holds his up to his eye inspecting it carefully. It was roughly the size of an apple and looked like cut glass. Shrugging to himself he gets into the position that Maya was in and looks inside of himself. It's a struggle to find what he's looking for, Troy almost feels like he's swimming through some kind of thick paste.

There! His focus hones in on a spark of red dancing just out of his reach. He gently tries to coax it to him and after some serious effort on his part to keep his cool it complies, rushing down his arm to settle in his palms and fingertips. Opening his eyes Troy can see his own marks glowing and the crystal is a blood red color. Checking to see if Wyn has made any progress he frowns in confusion over the fact that she was struggling with the exercise. The more time that passes the more frustrated she appears, her body starting to shake and sweat breaking out on her face and chest.

His concern growing Troy taps on Maya's knee to get her attention and points to Wyn. He feels helpless not knowing what's wrong and whether he can help his friend or not. Her tears of frustration finally fall free when Maya touches her hand and lightly takes the crystal from her grip.

"What's wrong with me?" Wyn whispers out in despair. "Why can't I do it?" Maya sits there looking uncomfortable, clearly unsure what to do or how to answer. Troy scooches closer to Wyn and wipes her tears from her face giving her an encouraging smile, which she returns with a wobbly one of her own.

"I'm not really sure...hang on I wanna have you guys try something else, give me a minute I have to go grab something." They watch as Maya stands and leaves muttering under her breath. Eyes sliding over to Wyn once again his stomach drops over how dejected she looks. Troy knows she's a very touchy-feely type of person so just does what seems to be the most logical to cheer her up. He grabs her suddenly and crushes her to his chest in a tight hug holding his breath until Wyn circles her arms around his neck and squeezes back.

"You'll figure it out, you've already used your power before y'know?"

"I can't really control it, so what use is it? Even now I can't call on it, I tried so hard but it still felt...split..." He felt her rub her face against his shoulder and heave a deep sigh. "Maybe it's just a fluke, or I can only use it if there's an actual injury. Sorry Troy, I don't mean to be such a crybaby about this. I just...well, I just want to be _good_ at something for once in my life. I get so tired of failing and letting other people down."

"Don't talk like that, you're good at a lot of stuff. And you haven't let me down yet even though I know you still blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault whatsoever. I got your back, okay? Don't forget it or I'll do something dramatic."

She snorts at that turning her face up to look into his eyes. They're faces mirrored one another in their shared mirth and eyes shining with mischief.

The atmosphere between them changes then as they stare at one another, both falling into a quiet seriousness and confusion. Whatever it is it feels heavy and significant; Troy swallows thickly, Wyn's eyes following the bobbing of his Adam's apple.

The moment is broken with Maya's return, both shoving themselves away from one another. A wave of disappointment drowns out whatever he had been feeling a second ago and it makes him cranky.

Maya stops and looks between the two uncertainly. "Uh, you guys alright? Did I interrupt something?" At their furiously shaking heads she shrugs and pulls out two devices that upon closer inspection look kind of like compasses, although the faces had some kind of meter on them instead of cardinal directions. 

"Alright so these nifty little things are energy meters. When a Siren has high energy levels it can make it more difficult to control and use their powers. I suspect that may be the situation with the two of you. You guys have a hard time sitting still, and required the distraction of something else in order to pull yourselves into your meditations. Also you should have been able to channel energy into the crystals almost immediately since you've already connected to your powers, however Troy you took about eight minutes to do so and Wyn you weren't able to do the exercise at all. I'm not admonishing you guys," Maya is quick to reassure, "but that means there's something else going on. I can't train you properly until we know your limitations. So here's how the meter works."

Picking one up, she turns it over and shows them small buttons and nobs on the back of the device. Pointing to a large silver button she turns the meter back over to show the needle setting itself over the zero at the top of the meter. "That button resets the meter back to the starting point. When you want to get a reading you push this blue button then rest the meter over your chest where your energy core is like this." She demonstrates, holding the device against the middle of her chest and they watch as the needle begins to slowly move around in a clockwise motion until stopping with only a fourth of the meter left.

"See how it stopped in this blue section? It means I have a higher than average energy core. In the red at the beginning is bad for an adult, that is the level we expect to find children who are first coming into their powers in. This green section here is the average for a full adult Siren. Then the blue where I stop at means my core is bigger and my power is stronger. The highest is this purple zone here, Sirens with a full mastery over their abilities will have trained and expanded their cores enough to hold immense power. Think of the difference being like a puddle compared to a lake."

"You want to get an idea how big our cores already are? I'll go first then." Troy volunteers while grabbing the unused one from her outstretched hand. Making sure it was set to zero Troy activates it and places it against his chest and watches as the needle moves. They all raise their eyebrows when it keeps moving out of the green and into the blue, and furrow their brows when it bypasses blue into the purple. The needle picks up speed and circles around again, continuing on its trajectory without signs of stopping. Troy drops the device when the face begins to crack, the needle only stopping when it hits the ground though all three knew that it'd still be moving if it could.

Maya stares him down warily, he assumes she's trying to determine if he's a threat. Picking up the meter she hits the reset button and frowns hard when the needle doesn't move at all. Reluctantly she holds the other one out to Wyn who looks at it like it might jump up and bite her. She hesitates but eventually grabs it, setting it up and placing it over her own core. This time the needle doesn't start up slow but immediately is completing the circle. They get to watch it for a few seconds before the entire thing shatters and all that's left is a smoking mess and burning metal. Troy is able to see blatant fear in Maya's eyes.

"What are you guys?! This isn't normal, none of this is like anything that's ever been recorded. These energy meters have been around since the time of the Eridians, they were built to be indestructible _and the two of you broke them like they were glass!_ I...I'm at a loss here...I don't know if I can help you at all."

Ah fuck.

* * *

Later as he sat under the shade of a blossom tree in their backyard Troy contemplated what they were going to do now. Maya had made it clear that she wouldn't be resuming any training with them until she understood more of what was happening. Troy rubbed at his chest feeling conflicted. On one hand he was elated that he had such a large core to work with, it meant that he could be incredibly powerful. On the other hand it also meant that learning to use his abilities would be even harder, and he _still_ didn't know what they could be.

Looking over at the table on the porch he sees his best friend staring blankly off into the distance. That was another problem entirely. Wyn had been utterly appalled when Maya ditched them at the training grounds. She had called herself _a freak_ and seemed to have closed herself off to the world around her. It had been robotic movements and responses since then and nothing he did snapped her out of it.

He'd been the one to pick up Vael and even the presence of the little boy hadn't elicited a reaction. It had disturbed Troy greatly when she had stared at Vael like he wasn't there in front of her. Troy had gotten him settled for a nap and come outside to try and relax and she'd followed him out mechanically and sat herself at the table not moving a muscle. He really wished he knew what was going through her head, maybe he'd be able to figure out how to help her.

After all, Troy was well versed in being a freak himself.

Aggravation eats away at him and he rubs his chest to the point it starts to hurt. Why the hell couldn't he ever do anything for anyone else? Maybe if he'd been more useful his sister wouldn't have ditched him on that backwards-ass trash planet. If he'd been more useful his dad probably wouldn't have treated him with such disdain. If he was more useful he wouldn't feel like such a shitty friend right now.

He lurches up and stalks over to the table sitting himself down next to Wyn and attempts to get her attention. When she ignores him, Troy grabs her chin roughly and turns her face towards him. He places his left hand against the side of her face and rubs his thumb lightly over her forehead and temple.

"Let me in," he whispers to her, "I can't help you if you won't let me in." There's a small shift in her eyes that he almost doesn't catch, distracted by the glow of his markings lighting up. When he looks back into her eyes he feels like he's being pulled into them, and suddenly he's slamming himself against then through a wall. Images flood the area around him of people and places he's never seen.

_A tall man with a very deep voice is standing over a toddler yelling at her while holding a cracked plate that the girl had apparently just dropped and broken. He calls the girl worthless before backhanding her hard enough that she crumples to the ground, and kicks at her when she cries out. The man spits on her as he stomps past and the girl begins to pick up a small amount of food off the floor with her hands, tears running down her face._

_The same girl, now a little older, is holding a picture she'd drawn aloft for a woman with disdain written across her face. The woman sneers at it before yanking it from the girl's hands and tearing it to shreds, berating her for wasting paper and telling the girl not to waste her time. The girl's hopeful expression falls off her face as the woman tells her to clean up her mess and go bug someone else. She mutters a "yes mommy" before doing just that._

_Now she's in a building surrounded by other children of varying ages, attempting to move about unseen. The girl is spotted however and a group of older children circle around her like predators, shoving the little girl over and over again calling her names like freak, pipsqueak, trash. The girl tries not to cry out or spill any tears that are building up in her eyes but inevitably does when one of the boys fists his hand into her hair and pulls hard enough that it's almost audible when he yanks a clump of hair from her head. The other children laugh and try to grab at her hair as well but she manages to slip through their legs and run away, her smaller stature working in her favor._

_She's sitting at a piano, her fingers dancing across the keys playing a beautiful melody full of emotion and longing. When she finishes the piece she stands and bows to the audience she'd just played for, looking into the sea of faces for someone specific. The girls face falls slightly and she sighs as she leaves the stage, the people she was looking for not there, though she shouldn't have expected any different._

_Her arms are shaking as she pulls back on the string, lining up her shot carefully. Breathing in she eyes the target in the distance, then unleashes the arrow as she breathes out. It lands right in the middle of the bullseye. A slap on the back has her looking up at the teacher who is almost syrupy with his praise. She dislikes the look in his eye as he checks her out from head to toe, a shudder overtakes her body when he turns to walk over to another girl who's also taking lessons. She feels disgusted with herself that she feels relieved that the other girl is prettier than her and therefore has the teacher's creepy attention more than anyone else. She feels a deep hatred for herself weeks later when the girl goes missing, and is found a month after that naked and dead in the teacher's basement. The girl hates herself because she was happy it wasn't her._

_The girl had grown into her looks and had caught the attention of the older boys at her high school. She had just started her freshman year and already she was a target, the girls all hated her, the boys all wanted to play around with her. One boy in particular is fairly attractive and has caught her attention though she does her best to avoid him and his friends. He's one of the popular kids, and she's just a silent freak. She's able to avoid him for most of the school year, but mistakenly arrives at school on a day that it's closed for a school holiday unaware there wouldn't be classes that day. She stumbles across the popular boy and his friends vandalizing the outside of the school. When she tries to leave and go back home they drag her off behind the building and hold her down while the boy works her jeans and panties off of her. She screams through the hand over her mouth when he pushes himself inside of her brutally and struggles trying to escape, but can't throw off seven boys who are all pinning her down and cheering on the one violating her. There's blood on him when he finally pulls out and when she thinks that it's over and she'll finally be allowed to leave another boy takes his place and the pain starts up anew. They all get a turn with her before they leave her be, warning her they'll tell everyone she's a slut who asked for it if she tries to tell anyone about it. It seems to take forever for the pain to subside enough for her to be able to sit up. She's takes one look between her legs at the blood and semen leaking out of her abused body before she turns her head to the side and throws up. Later she cries tears of pain and relief and joy when she finally bleeds again after almost three months without a period, and buries the expelled tissue in a small box on the edge of their property._

More images, more _memories_ assault him, leaving Troy feeling progressively sicker by the minute as he tries to fight his way out of the blatant violation and invasion of Wyn's mind. Finally he's able to will himself back into his own headspace sobbing over the torrent of emotions running wild inside of him. Wyn is keening brokenly trying to get away from him while choking on tears but Troy just pulls her close and apologizes for everything. He saw more than he ever should have and he feels incredibly dirty for it. 

"I didn't mean to I'm so sorry I didn't mean to! I didn't know that was going to happen I couldn't get out! Please I'm so so sorry!"

Her struggling ceases with his words and he hears a quiet "I know" between her hiccupping sobs which only makes him feel worse. Of course she'd forgive him for this.

"What can I do? Is there anything that will help?"

"Don't leave me alone please." Wyn sniffs her answer. He tears off a piece of his shirt not even caring that it's now ruined and wipes her face with it. He feels her stiffen in his arms then her crying renews again. "Why did you do that?! This is one of my favorite shirts!"

"You really need to stop stealing my clothes to wear and get your own." He chuckles out wetly. Even now she's draped in one of his hoodies and he wouldn't be surprised if she was wearing one of his t-shirts underneath it again. Damn woman even stole his socks sometimes.

"I can't help that they're comfortable." She chokes out while rubbing at her eyes. He's silent while she composes herself, fighting with himself over whether to ask her if she wants to talk about it. "No I don't wanna talk about it." Is her curt answer. How did she know?!

"I can hear you inside my head dummy, you're so loud."

**Really?**

"Yes really, you should probably work on that if you don't want me to hear everything you're thinking. Also don't go reading my mind without permission."

"Uh yeah I'll try not to." He says aloud, grimacing over the newest development. The saying 'Be careful what you wish for' rang true and Troy felt like this was the worst way to figure out what he's capable of. Wyn runs her fingers over his face in a soothing manner, he can hear her thinking that he worries too much.

Troy pulls her impossibly closer, dragging her onto his lap and rests his chin on top of her head.

He had never felt more unworthy of her friendship as he did right then.


	14. It's all fun and games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Until the real world tries to kill you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's fighting in this chapter so canon-typical violence and light gore.

Wyn was doing her best not to stare even though it was difficult. Lean muscles rippling, sweat beading down his shirtless torso, oh yes it was hard not to stare. Since they didn't have Maya available to them for training Troy and Wyn had decided to start up their usual training regiment again, although they had had to modify it a bit. Not having weights and other equipment to work with was a bit of a hassle so they just had to add more reps to what they already did.

She didn't know why she was noticing him so much right now, it's not like this was the first time she had seen Troy work out without a shirt on. But as she watched him use a tree branch for pull ups, her eyes were glued to a particular bead of sweat making it's way down down down his body...and she had to jerk her head away from the sight of it reaching the band of his pants which were riding kind of low on his hips.

Wyn felt like a dirty pervert, he was her best friend and she was eyeballing him like candy. He defiantly wasn't the scrawny malnourished rat boy he'd been when first brought to the Crimson Raiders. She couldn't grasp why her stomach fluttered at the thought, maybe she was coming down with something.

"Uh hey, you think you could focus on something else? It's getting really distracting." Is called over her way; looking at Troy she can see his face is bright red and Wyn suspects it isn't from exertion. Her own face heating up Wyn blurts out "I'm not thinking anything about you shut up!" while speed walking back into the house. Yeah they hadn't been able to figure out how to get Troy out of her head yet. It had been almost four days since he'd somehow used his power to break into her hidden memories and he'd been able to hear her ever since. Wyn was getting fed up over the lack of privacy. And the nightmares, oh the nightmares had gotten _bad_ again, mostly because they were memories she had to relive over and over. Every night she woke up choking on her screams, Troy frantic in his panic as he tried to figure out how to help her. She'd curl up against his side and cry brokenly while he'd run his fingers through her hair, his guilt tainting the air around them.

And their so-called mentor was no where to be found. Asking around the monks had told them that Maya had locked herself away in a private library that had belonged to Queen Dido the Siren ruler before Maya, intensely studying the journals held within. Wyn understood that figuring out what was going on with them was important, but to just drop them like she had _hurt._

Maybe they should just try to train themselves from now on, it didn't seem like anyone would take it seriously. Perhaps being a Siren wasn't all it was cut out to be. In fact Wyn felt like it was a hassle more than anything, what was the point of being a Siren?

Her mood plummets as she slowly walks around the house lost in her own thoughts, her fingers lightly running along the furniture. So wrapped up in it Wyn doesn't see Troy standing in the doorway watching her piddle about a frown on his face.

**We'll be fine, we can figure it out ourselves. If no one wants to help us we will just have to help ourselves.**

Wyn's head snaps over to him as his gentle baritone whispers in her mind. Great, he was doing it again. An unpleasant feeling stirs in her gut as his face falls at her thoughts and Wyn pinches the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Speak out loud please, it's still a bit unnerving that you can do that. The least you can do is pretend you're not living inside of my head right now."

"I'm really sorry about that, again. But I'm serious, we should just do our own thing. Or ask some of the older monks around here, they were alive when Dido was queen right? Maybe they know some stuff. One of the monks that runs that bar was around back then so maybe he's got some advice. C'mon, Vael doesn't need to be picked up for a few more hours, how about we go hang out at the bar, get a few drinks, and ask some questions?"

She can't find any fault in his logic so Wyn shrugs then nods her head. Troy shoots her a smile then goes to take a shower. Laying down on the couch to wait for him Wyn pulls out her new E-phone, her and Troy having had them delivered just this morning. Maya's way of apologizing for ditching them apparently, the E-phone wasn't supposed to be released to the public for another month; trade with Promethea must be doing quite well to get early access. Or Maya had dirt on the ATLAS corporation, Wyn didn't care, she had almost refused it on principle. Troy's over excitement had stemmed her bitterness and she had begrudgingly accepted the bribe for what it was.

Clicking on the 'Old World Archives' app she had installed Wyn settles in to watch a movie she vaguely recalls watching as a child. It's while the little lion is running around singing about being a king that Troy joins her in the living room running a towel through his dripping hair. Clicking out of the app and locking her phone Wyn sits up and motions for him to sit in front of her. Grabbing the towel from him she runs it over his head gently but firmly; Troy always did a half ass job of drying his hair and would complain later about his head being cold. He hums in appreciation, closing his eyes and tipping his head back more into her arms.

Wyn takes her time drying his hair so she can study his face. It really was unfair how pretty his features were, from his long thick eyelashes to his plump lips and perfect cheekbones. Him getting pummeled by that bitch had probably been the first time in his life he'd been hit in the face by anything. Wyn is too engrossed in mapping out his features and doesn't notice him studying her as well through half-lidded eyes. 

There goes her stupid stomach again with the fluttering. Maybe going for drinks was a bad idea. Before she can voice anything Troy is already standing and holding out a hand to her. She takes it with a soft sigh and follows along behind him. Troy is unusually quiet as they walk, but when Wyn asks him if he was okay he simply smiles at her and tells her he is fine.

Not really believing him, but not wanting to start a fight Wyn just keeps her mouth shut even as she moves closer to him.

Wyn tries not to be too pleased when he throws an arm over her shoulder and smooshes her face into his chest, the rumble of his laughter making the fluttering start up again.

She really needed to see a doctor about that.

* * *

Her laughter once again catches his attention. Troy sits at his table sipping on an ale from the bar watching Wyn dance around with one of the younger monks, both tipsy and giggling through their semi-clumsy movements. The monk manages to dip her gracefully before pulling her back up and quite close to himself. Troy tells himself he's not bothered by it.

Even if the guy has caught the eye of many of the people at the bar, including his best friend. And happens to have chiseled features. And pretty green eyes. And has been dancing around with her for about an hour. The dancing only getting clumsy within the last fifteen minutes as they both continued to throw back alcohol.

Nope, not bothered at all. Nope, Troy doesn't hate what's-his-face, why should he?

Tossing back the rest of his drink he gets up and grabs another then returns to his table to brood some more. Taking a big gulp Troy runs the back of his hand over his mouth to wipe away the foam that is left over and ponders over Wyn's earlier thoughts about him. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or not that she thought he had pretty features. His father had always told him that boys aren't supposed to be pretty.

Troy remembers being eleven years old and he and Tyreen had found some of their mother's make up that had been left on the crashed ship. They had had fun applying it to each other's faces, Tyreen doing a pretty good job at giving him a cat's eye look with the eyeliner and complementing him afterwards. She had said that it made his already striking eyes pop more; Troy had felt very good about himself which was a rare thing for him.

Typhon was quite unhappy with them when they had returned home later. The eyeliner was bad, the nail polish on his hand and feet was worse. His father had yelled at both of them for going anywhere near the ship, but his fury over Troy "making himself girly" had actually made him _afraid_ that his father was going to hit him. Luckily Typhon had only insulted him for several minutes before storming off yelling that Troy had better have cleaned himself up before dinner or he wouldn't eat. He hadn't been able to get the polish off so resorted to making sure to wear a glove and always have socks on when around his father until it all chipped away. Troy hadn't felt comfortable about his looks ever since.

Hearing her fascination over his features in her head had made him feel happy (and guilty) while also making him confused. Was being considered pretty bad? Troy was under the impression that men were supposed to be rough and tough looking. But maybe it was just Typhon trying to belittle him again. Wyn had never been insincere with him.

Troy breaks out of his musings when Wyn drops herself into his lap grabbing at his ale. Her thoughts are fuzzy and bubbly and he feels a bit of a headache forming in his temples. Another downside to being stuck in her head, the buzz she has adds to his own making him feel more drunk than he actually was. Troy tries to pull his mug away but Wyn is quicker and she downs the rest of it. She giggles at the glare he gives her before kissing his cheek and dancing away.

Troy feels his heart stop for a moment; inhaling sharply his buzz is quickly forgotten as he sits in a stupor. It's just because she's drunk, that's all there was nothing behind it. He repeats this over and over while resting his hand against his cheek, the spot still slightly warm from her lips.

He was unaware of how long he sat there with his brain short circuiting. A sober Wyn makes her way over to him a short while after she had left him there prodding him and telling him she was going to go grab Vael. He can hear her grumbling in her head about her powers activating and purging all the alcohol from her body killing her buzz and good mood.

Troy slowly gets up from the table, shaking his head at her when Wyn asks if he wanted to go with her. The walk home by himself will give him time to think.

Their trip to the bar hadn't been completely useless, they had found one of the older monks who had been around when Dido was in charge. Brother Michael had told them about a temple atop one of the mountains that apparently had some significance to the Sirens and given them directions how to get there. It could take up to a day to travel to the peak; they had discussed whether they should check it out and Wyn had said she'd speak to Sister Ingrid about whether Vael would be allowed to spend the night at the orphanage. Neither of them were happy with the thought of leaving him behind, however they both were aware that it was too dangerous to take him out into the wilderness with them on an unknown planet.

They were leaving for the mountain in a couple of days if Ingrid agreed to keep Vael overnight. It was both thrilling and terrifying and they'd need to make sure they were well prepared.

He was also going to spend as much time as possible with his little buddy before they left, Troy didn't want Vael to think he was abandoning him again. And he'd never admit it to _anybody_ but he enjoyed playing their silly adventures with the plushies together, probably more than he should. It was worth it to see the little guy's face break out into a wide grin, his tinkering laughter always filled Troy's chest with warmth and happiness.

Their front door is in front of his nose before he knows it. Turning the nob the door opens smoothly without a noise and he slips inside quietly. Troy drops himself onto the couch propping his feet up on the coffee table uncaring if his boots scratched the wood. Letting his head rest against the back of the couch he takes a short nap, waking up when Wyn returns with Vael bouncing excitedly on her hip. A happy squeal erupts from the little boy when his eyes lands on Troy and tiny hands make grabbing motions in his direction. Grinning at the boy he holds his own arms out for Wyn to deposit Vael into his lap, choking a little bit as Vael wraps his arms around his neck in a strangling hug.

It's the little things like this that make him truly happy.

Moving them to the floor Troy drags the small toybox over pulling out blocks and plushies with Vael watching on attentively. He hears Wyn's amusement in his head and tries not to outwardly react at her thoughts of them being cute together. She disappears into the kitchen for a minute and returns with a plate with diced fruit on it for all of them to snack on. 

They played and nibbled at the snacks for a while with Wyn watching through droopy eyes from her place laying on the couch. As he gets up to stretch and get some water a tugging on his pants leg grabs Troy's attention. Looking down he sees Vael pulling himself into a standing position slightly unsteady on his feet.

"What's up Bubba, you wanna come with me?" Reaching down to pick Vael up Troy is shocked when his hands are slapped away. He watches as Vael puts one of his feet forward testing the floor before him before withdrawing his foot back. Wyn sits up suddenly on the couch alert and focused on the two of them.

"He's going to try to walk. Oh my god!" Getting up quickly Wyn moves over to Vael pulling his hands off of Troy and placing them on the coffee table. She pushes against Troy and points to a spot across the room. Understanding dawns on him and he complies, dropping down to his knees once he'd moved away.

"Alright Bubba, you're gonna do it this time I just know it! C'mon over here okay?" He holds his arms in front of him loosely, making a come here motion with his hands. Wyn sits behind Vael softly pushing at his back encouraging him to go over to Troy. Vael's face shows how nervous he is, but finally he moves a step forward. Then another, whimpering slightly as he goes to take a third step and realizing there was nothing to hold onto anymore. Troy and Wyn continue to encourage and praise him while he works through it and before too long Vael is just outside of Troy's reach, his fingertips barely able to brush against the boy. 

"Right there, c'mon you've made it this far just a couple more steps Vael." He says softly, almost whispering due to the emotion in his voice. The trust in Vael's eyes as he reaches for his hands is nearly too much to handle, the pride he feels at the little boy's accomplishment making him tear up. Those last few steps into his waiting arms feel like an eternity for Troy and he chokes up a bit when he's able to pull the boy into a hug.

He hears a small clicking noise and looks up to see Wyn with her E-phone out. She turns the screen his way and Troy is able to see she got a picture of the moment.

**Send it to me, please?** Wyn's happiness overrides any irritation she would have felt at him speaking in her head and she nods to him while sending it to his device.

Troy pulls out his own E-phone and sets the picture up as his background. He wants to change his mind about leaving soon, but knows they can't delay any longer. It's with a heavy heart that he picks Vael up and returns over to their play area. Looking at Wyn he sees she's just a conflicted as he is.

**This just means we need to be quick about getting there and back again. We have something to look forward to when we get back home.**

Wyn nods her head in agreement. They would make this as short of a trip as possible.

* * *

They left two days later after taking the time to pack what they might need, a sad Vael waving at them in Sister Ingrid's arms making them both feel guilty. Brother Tanner awaited them over at the stables on the outskirts of town, two equine like creatures saddled up for them. They'd be able to ride them about a third of the way up the mountain before being required to continue on foot, as per tradition for Sirens on a pilgrimage.

The mood is pensive and neither of them felt the need to speak about anything. Wyn feels like her brain is empty and the only thing she can really focus on is the movement of muscle from the creature underneath her. Something about this trip felt like a horrible idea, but again Maya was unavailable to them so what else were they supposed to do?

Wyn pulls out her ECHO in order to look through her inventory again. She had several guns on hand that she hoped she wouldn't need to use. Her bow was in there too along with a smattering of arrows. She could hunt if they needed to, but Wyn decided that if they took a break at any time on their hike up the mountain she'd see if there was an instructional video on how to make her own arrows.

Feeling a probing at the edges of her mind Wyn ignores it forcefully not in the mood to hear his voice in her head. She hadn't slept at all the night before, laying there in bed with a progressive feeling of dread building up in her chest.

She _really_ didn't want him to give her a reason to snap at him. He slipped up already when she was distracted by Vael's milestone and since she had never called him out on it Troy seemed to have relaxed about his invasion into her brain. It was unacceptable, her memories of her past were already a jumbled mess that she had a hard time sorting through, and the precious few that were good had caused her to go into a small seizure when trying to pull them forward into her consciousness. Wyn had three that she would treasure, the day of Vael's birth and holding him for the very first time. The day Stacy had given her Gimli, the bow having been hand carved by the girls father with her help. And Miguel working on the tattoo on her back, hands steady and sure and _kind_ while he touched her. Wyn hadn't felt any fear with him, the only man in her life that hadn't set off her fight-or-flight instincts. The only man before Troy that is.

Even when they were at each other's throats in the beginning, or ignoring the other's presence, Wyn had never feared Troy. And Vael hadn't either, he'd been immediately comfortable with him upon first meeting him. It was safe to say they took cues from one another in regards to the people around them, so she wasn't sure if that feeling of safety came from Vael being okay with him, or if Vael felt safe because she did.

Everything about her best friend was a conundrum. And now...well now something between them was irrevocably different. She didn't know if she like the change or not. Things were easy and comfortable before, now she didn't know where she stood.

Even if it had been an accident he violated her. She knew he regretted it, but a part of herself wanted to keep him at a distance. Another part of herself wanted to pull him closer and allow him to take care of her. War waged within her and Wyn hated how confused she felt. She hadn't ever really had friends before so she didn't know how the whole friendship thing was supposed to go, Wyn didn't think it was supposed to be this complicated and draining however.

A granola bar waving in front of her face has her jerking back to attention, Troy holding it out to her with a blank face. A murmured "thank you" slips out from her lips and she nibbles on it to give herself something to do. Looking at him from the corner of her eyes she sees Troy focusing on the rough road ahead of them, she'd think he was unaware of her if not for the stiffness of his body.

It wasn't fair, she's the bad guy just because she can't sort out her thoughts privately. Wyn's being fills with bitterness and she urges her mount into a canter putting some distance between her and Troy. She wants to cry and scream and RAGE at the world.

She kicks the mount's sides urging it to break into a gallop as if it'd allow her to flee from the poison of her negative thoughts. Wyn is barely able to hear the hoofbeats of the other mount from somewhere behind her as they fly down the road, vision blurring with unshed tears and an almost buzzing in her head where Troy is trying to get her attention without shoving his way in again.

**~Get out, get the FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD! LEAVE ME ALONE!~**

Feeling him withdraw from her mind like the snap of a rubber band nearly gives her whiplash, his hurt at her rejection souring her mood further. Wyn doesn't slow down until she can no longer hear the other mount behind her. Looking back, Troy has fallen far enough behind that she can't even make out the features on his face anymore. Good, she needed the reprieve no matter how shitty it made her feel.

The stables at the base of the mountain are nondescript and off the main road so she almost moves past them. Luckily the mount seems to have made the trip many times since it automatically moves towards them. A waiting stable hand takes the reins and holds the beast still so she can dismount. As she gives her thanks the meek woman bows low before Wyn and pulls the animal away not bothering to raise her head back up until she's nearly out of Wyn's eyesight.

Troy isn't within sight yet but Wyn isn't eager to wait for him and begins the hike up the mountain, the pathway becoming more gnarled and overgrown the higher up the mountain it goes. She follows it for about five minutes or so then stops and sits herself on top of a large boulder. Wyn folds herself into a meditating pose and closes her eyes. She needs to collect herself and get her shit straightened out before he got there. Pulling in slow deep breaths and letting them out again Wyn tries to find that quiet place inside where her power lies. The sparks of white and silver dance about merrily, but there's also something much darker, _more feral_ that lingers just outside of her touch. It gives off a deep animalistic growl whenever she focuses on it.

Whatever it is, it's the main reason she wants Troy out of her head. It lives inside of her, and she was afraid it'd attack if she caused it to focus on her too much. Wyn couldn't stand the thought of it hurting Troy, and the longer he lingered in her head the higher the chances were that he would catch its attention. It killed her to push away her best friend but it was for his own good.

Wyn wanted to protect him, not destroy him.

She seeks out his aura, the taste of chai tea tainted with self-loathing and unhappiness. Hesitantly Wyn stretches her aura out towards him, conveying her regret at her harshness but expecting him to pull away. Of course he doesn't, his own aura touches hers back ever so lightly with his own feelings of apology.

**~I'm not far, just up the trail a ways. Sorry for running off on you, I just...I...~**

**No I get it, this is too much for you at times. I'll do better, there has to be a way where you can block me again. Maybe the ruins will hold some answers.**

**~I don't know how you manage to be so optimistic all the time. I admire that about you though. Er, but don't let that get to your head or anything!~** A chuckle is felt through the link connecting them. **Never. If I get a big head smack it for me will ya?**

Her smile is still on her face by the time he reaches her.

* * *

Whatever he had been expecting, it surely wasn't this. The ruined temple was reminiscent of the ruins on Nekrotafeyo, however it looked different from the other Eridian ruins. In fact he'd bet money that this was created by someone else. There were swirling patterns of blue all along the walls that reminded him of the markings that decorated his sister's arm and shoulder. The statues of the women that were still mostly intact had markings that looked like Maya's. The place thrummed with energy and echoes of a tragedy from the past. His own powers stirred beneath his skin in agitation and Troy felt himself becoming more wary and alert. A glance at Wyn showed her pulling a pistol out of her ECHO storage and he pulled his own ECHO out to digistruct his SMG.

Wyn looked as nervous as he felt but tried to give him a brave smile. Her aura seemed to be shaking however, and she pulled away from him when he went to put a hand on her shoulder. She let out a shaky breath then moved forward cautiously, her steps barely making a sound. He followed slightly behind to her left keeping his ears open.

Nothing was there, not even an insect or rodent. Whatever was in this place it was intense enough to scare off the wildlife. The endless silence was creepy and Troy felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

He jumps when Wyn makes a quiet gasp, the small sound sounding so much louder than it should. Crouching across from her behind his own piece of rubble Troy looks around it carefully to see what caught her attention. And feels fear in his gut at the figures they see in the antechamber before them.

Incredibly tall and spindly looking beings with almost insect like exoskeletons, their movements were fluid and sure. These beings were a shiny black and carried spears with toxic purple spearheads that glowed and thrummed with the same energy as the temple. He couldn't tell how many of them there were, and any thoughts of slipping away quietly and leaving went out the window once one appeared behind Wyn.

Troy didn't even think, he simply reacted, aiming his SMG at the creature he pulled the trigger and hit it with a spray of bullets that deafened everyone within the echoing chamber. The creature threw itself back before sliding behind a large chunk of rubble, making some kind of screeching noise that called others to it.

Shit! He readjusts himself so that there's better coverage and shoots towards the horde converging on their hiding place, Wyn doing the same although her pistol only does so much from this distance. He hears her give a frustrated grunt before she falls silent. As he reloads Troy is able to see that Wyn is now pulling out a sniper rifle and lining up a shot. Getting his clip in place he resumes raining bullets down on the bug creatures, noting with dissatisfaction that they don't seem to be doing much.

Troy's focus is completely on the ones advancing from in front of them, therefore he doesn't see the one that slipped past their guard until it's too late. Wyn's terrified scream of his name catches his attention moments before one of those things is face-to-face with him, then he feels himself flying through the air.

He hadn't felt this kind of pain before; flying with enough force to smash through solid stone pillars has him howling. He finally stops when he hits a wall at a weird angle, the left side of his body hitting first and taking the brunt of the momentum. Troy falls unconscious when his left shoulder dislocates and he feels ribs breaking.

The taste of blood in his mouth is present when he reawakens not long afterwards, being shocked awake by the most malevolent energy he's ever experienced in his short life. Troy isn't able to see much through his blurry eyes, he can barely feel his own body through the pain. Somehow he's able to pull himself down from the wall whimpering at the crater left behind. He grabs a sharp piece of rock near his feet and uses it to hack away at his jacket until he has a decent sized wad to bite on to.

Troy never thought he'd have to implement the lessons from Mac about how to pop your own shoulder back into place after dislocation, and while he was grateful for them now he hated every moment of this. It was utter agony and he nearly passed out again once he had gotten popped back in. 

Miraculously his ECHO was still working and Troy was able to pull out a health hypo from it, jabbing it into his ribs as soon as it materialized in his hands. It wouldn't completely heal the break but would mend the bones some and keep them from splintering.

Huffing out gasping breaths Troy attempts to pull himself to his feet but needs to lean heavily against a monolith to stay standing. He blinks to clear his eyes of moisture and feels his heart stop at what he's finally able to see.

Body parts are littered all about the place, splatter of purple that he assumes is the blood of the bug creatures is painted on nearly every surface of the antechamber. Troy can hear pained high-pitched screeching that cuts off with a gurgle.

He can't see Wyn anywhere, and there's no more gunshots going off. Troy does his best to move on jelly like legs, gaining more control and strength in them as he moves. Making it to the mouth of the antechamber at a near run he skids to a stop when one of the creatures steps into his path spear aimed at his head. Troy ducks and feels it whoosh over his head. He glares up at it only to see it lifted off its feet by a pale hand decorated in black marks that seem to have smoke coming off of them instead of glowing. A beastly roar is heard then Troy watches as something wearing the face of his best friend rips the things arms clean off while latching sharp teeth into it's throat and ripping it out. Splatters of purple soak her face but she doesn't seem to care as she lets out another earsplitting roar and continues to tear it to pieces.

The pressure from the energy the creature is oozing out of her being crushes his lungs and Troy stops breathing. He can even see the ground underneath her feet crack, tiny shards of stone floating upward at the disruption of gravity.

Troy fears for his life looking into the dead black eyes in her face, not a speck of white or color to be seen. Shark's eyes, and they're looking at him like he is her prey. He barely notices the black raven wings sprouting from her shoulder blades, an inky ichor dripping off of them like they had just been dipped in a well.

His vision is hazy, the edges going from grey to black quickly. He was going to die of suffocation before she even got to ripping him limb from limb. An arm moves to strike and Troy flinches his eyes closed waiting for the blow. When nothing happens he squints and eye open to meet a blood stained claw centimeters from his nose.

Daring to meet her gaze he sees a flicker of recognition there for a moment before they go wide with her scream. Troy feels blood hit his face when he looks to her right, just in time to see one of the creatures pushing a spear deep into the side of his friend. Its head is ripped from it shoulders seconds later and the spearhead breaks from the shaft as the weight of the body falling pulls it sharply downward.

The smell of cooking flesh hits his nose next. He watches the wings behind her burst and her marks suddenly change back into their familiar silver. A small "oh" escapes her lips then her eyes roll into the back of her head. Troy moves and catches her before she hits the ground, the intense pressure that had kept him paralyzed gone as soon as her wings were. Holding onto her body tightly with his right arm he pulls at the spearhead with his left hand. It burns his fingers but he pushes through the pain and persists, wiggling the thing until he's able to finally pull it free. The flesh and organs in the gaping hole it left behind are blackened and smell horrible, but are cauterized. He wraps the damn thing up in the piece of cloth he cut from his clothing earlier and puts it in a pocket on his pants leg. Removing his jacket he does his best to wrap it around her waist to cover the wound and picks her up bridal style.

Wyn's breathing is raspy and erratic, her heartbeat too fast against his flesh. Troy knows there isn't much time, they need to get her medical attention and they needed it NOW.

Hauling her down the mountainside is slow going, he's still obliterated by pain and his head is absolutely concussed. Feeble white light flickers on and off from Wyn's markings as if her powers can't decide if they want to help her or not. Eventually a steady white light crawls across her body to her wound, a small part splitting off to wrap around his injured hand. He watches in fascination as flakes of blackened skin fall away from his injuries, fresh new skin taking its place. The fragment of her power then slips up his arm to wrap itself around his ribs, ever so slowly healing them.

But it's not enough, Wyn's breathing is getting more shallow and her pulse is slowing down dangerously. Troy is able to pick up speed and somehow finds the strength to sprint his way down the mountain even as he stumbles and falls frequently.

He flares his power, sending his mind out searching for anyone he can reach. And finally after hours of splintering his focus between his body that is ready to give up, and his mind, Troy is able to reach someone. A stronghold greets him in their headspace, he knows there's no way he'd be able to break in the way he had with Wyn. It doesn't mean he can't be heard however. Banging on the wall of her mind he screams out to her with as much urgency as he can muster.

Her surprise when she responds is overrun by his frantic emotions as Troy relays as much information as possible to Maya. Her curt response that she'd have people waiting for them near the base of the mountain causes him to weep with relief upon returning fully to his body.

His muscles and joints are locking up and he has a stitch in his side but Troy pushes through all that. So close, just a bit more then he can stop. He ignores the branches from trees whipping his face as he runs, hisses through the stings of thorny plants tearing at his exposed flesh.

Troy never thought he'd be happy to see Maya's worried face, but there she was running up the path towards him, several monks bringing up the rear carrying equipment. He collapses as she reaches them and it takes little effort for Maya to pull Wyn from his grasp and move her over to a healer. 

He lies there gasping as quietly as he can in order to hear the murmurs of the monks as they worked over Wyn. When they remove his ruined jacket to the sight of a self healing wound he throws an arm over his eyes to hide his relieved tears. She was going to be okay, even now the monks were injecting her with hypos and getting her onto a stretcher.

"You did good kiddo, now get some rest. She'll be fine, you got her help just in time. Sleep."

Troy did his best to fight it but exhaustion won out. He was able to gesture to his pocket and blacked out as Maya pulled the spearhead from it.


	15. A reversal of roles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holding in too many emotions will eventually cause the bottle to crack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh...got inspired by a friend so cranked this out. You know who you are!

The monks in the Healing Halls looked at each other nervously, unknowingly grouping themselves closer to one another. They eyed their leader who unfortunately also looked quite nervous as she watched the man stalking up and down the hallway outside of Wyn's door. His anger is palpable due to his being denied entry to the room, marks glowing a disturbing blood red in flux with his emotions.

One monk dares to step forward into his pathway, bowing low to him, tone imploring and meek. "Please my Lord, she isn't well enough to leave the Healing Halls at this time. Her wound is still an open wound, we haven't been able to get it to close. We-"

A metal fist slams into the wall above the monk's head, cracking the stone and showering the man with flecks of the debris while cutting him off from what he had been saying. He dares not lift his head nor move even as his body begins to shake in terror. The predator hovering over him leans in close, breath ghosting across the side of his face.

"Is her body still healing itself?" The monk nods minutely an affirmative. "Then she's well enough to come home, she can finish her treatment there, _where she belongs._ Do I make myself clear?"

Maya finally moves to intervene unable to continue to stand by and watch Troy terrorize her people. Her placing a hand on his shoulder causes him to throw it off forcefully an animalistic snarl let loose from pulled back lips, his teeth bared in a threatening display. She quickly waves the healers away not wanting them caught up in whatever is about to happen. She puts on a brave face, but inside she feels a healthy amount of fear. Maya didn't know what to expect from Troy, had no idea how his powers worked only knowing he could get inside her head.

"Back off Troy, this is not the time or place for a temper tantrum." Clearly this was the wrong thing to say as his eyes widen giving him an even more crazed look.

"A temper tantrum...you think I'm having a temper tantrum _like I'm a child?!_ Who the _hell_ do you think you are? You are a fucking hypocrite _and a GODDAMN COWARD!_ Where have you been Maya?" Him advancing towards her makes her automatically retreat until her back meets a wall behind her. She hadn't been expecting this reaction at all.

As she opens her mouth to say something she finds her airways forcibly closed off as his metal hand is wrapped around her throat and she's lifted off the ground, her body slammed hard enough into the wall to cause it to shake. She's grabbing at the vice around her neck trying to pry it off, her head starting to feel weightless and tight. Troy's face is suddenly in her own, noses almost touching as he continues to growl low and menacing.

"You abandoned us Maya, weren't you the one who claimed to be our mentor? Are you only a mentor if you get something out of it? So what is it, a superiority complex? These peace-loving fucks not enough for you? Scared you might be upstaged, that they might want a different Siren to protect them? WHY THE FUCK ARE WE HERE!"

He loosens the grip on her throat the smallest amount, allowing her to pull in tiny breathes of air greedily. Maya feels like she's drowning in the disdain that literally oozes out of his aura. She had never felt so small in her entire life, his aura smothering her own with his volatile emotions. The sheer amount of emotional pain and scarring he carried inside himself brought tears to her eyes. Betrayal was one of the strongest, fear slightly winning out. He feared losing another person he loved, even if he wasn't aware of it yet. Troy's feelings towards Wyn were jumbled and complicated, a feeling Maya understood all too well.

"Yo...you're right..." she manages to cough out. He raises an eyebrow at her response and lowers her body back down so her feet are on the floor again, though he doesn't remove his hand yet. Maya knows she needs to choose her words carefully or risk setting him off again. "I am a coward, I was afraid of the two of you. How could you guys have so much power while being completely untrained? Power leads to corruption, and corruption only leads to destruction. I don't...I don't really know what I'm doing, you guys are the first people I've ever considered trying to teach. I still don't know if I can..."

He removes his hand finally with a scoff, turning his back on her to pace in front of the door to Wyn's room once more. She stays where she is, watching his hands clench and unclench themselves, a twitch ticking around his right eye. His aura is still lashing out but is starting to quiet down some, not as violent and all consuming as it had been.

"Look, um, I'm gonna tell the healers to release her to your care. You're sure you can manage keeping an eye on her and taking care of Vael?" He glares at her but nods his head, biting his lip to stop himself from saying something probably scathing at her. Maya nods back and carefully walks backwards down the hall, refusing to turn her back to him until turning a corner. She stops inside of an empty room for a moment, back sliding down the door as soon as she closes it, limbs shaking and breath short.

She had fucked up big time, and Maya didn't know if she'd ever be able to earn their trust back. Wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees, Maya gives herself a few minutes to cry needing the emotional release.

She needed to do better by her people, _all_ of her people.

* * *

He's rewrapping the bandages around her waist after checking the wound, satisfied that more of the black flakes had peeled away leaving healthy tissue in their place. Wyn's side maintained a steady white glow as her powers worked to regrow blood vessels and parts of her inner organs that had been burned away. Maya had braved speaking to him once more before he brought Wyn home to tell him that the spearhead was made of raw eridium, something that was supposed to enhance a Siren's powers. Apparently it didn't work that way for himself or Wyn, which he could worry about later.

As he pulls a blanket over her unclothed body to keep her from getting too cold, he sees Vael standing at the doorway looking on the verge of tears. Troy waves him over and Vael wastes no time toddling over unsteadily, luckily maintaining his balance enough to cross the room unassisted. He pulls Vael onto his lap and both of them reach out to grab onto her hand. 

Troy hadn't realized how shitty it felt to be on this side of this type of situation. He knew there wasn't really much he could do. She had semi-woken briefly when he'd been carrying her home from the Healing Halls in a panic, but had relaxed once she realized it was him. Wyn had managed to ask what had happened before she was once more unconscious and he hadn't managed to wake her up again.

He resolved to try at least once a day to get some fluids in her if nothing else, knowing that her body had to be working very hard to repair itself. Troy felt absolutely crummy but tried to find _some_ kind of positive out of this whole shit show. Feeling a small hand patting him lightly on the face Troy looks down into Vael's eyes.

Well...he had a chance for some one-on-one time with Vael again, that was something. As if sensing Troy's need for comfort Vael leans into the man's chest rubbing his face against the soft fabric of his t-shirt making little happy noises. It didn't fail to bring the smallest of smiles to his face, this kid was just too sweet.

He shifts Vael onto his hip as he stands, giving Wyn one last once-over before leaving the room, keeping the door partially cracked in order to keep an ear out in case she woke up. He sets Vael down in the living room, walking slowly into the kitchen in order to give the little guy a chance to practice walking. They do this for a while, Troy walking slowly into a room then stopping to wait for Vael to catch up. It's almost like a game of tag, with Troy moving just before Vael can grab onto him in order to motivate him to keep moving. It's only when Vael sits on the floor in the living room and refuses to get up again that Troy stops the game.

Ruffling Vael's snowy curls as he passes by him Troy grabs a book off the small table next to the couch. He had decided to read one of Wyn's books to Vael as a means of entertaining both of them, and had chosen a book from a series of seven.

"Hey Bubba, wanna read a book with me? It's one of your mom's favorites." Vael perks up his head at that, and hurries over as fast as his chubby little legs will allow. Grabbing at the book he manages to pull it out of Troy's hands and dragging it behind him somewhat roughly he drags it towards the bedroom. Troy pulls the book from him and Vael lets out a frustrated sound, glaring at the book then looking at the door and back again.

"What is it?" An angry squawk is the reply, Vael tugging on his pants and pointing to the bedroom then up at the book in Troy's hands. "Uh, you want the book in there?" Huffing as he gives a short nod Vael once again tugs on his pants until Troy moves quietly into the bedroom. Vael tugs him over to a sleeping Wyn's side then stops and points once again at the book, then at his mother.

"Do you want me to read it to her?" A happy quiet squeal answers the question, Vael holding up his arms let's Troy know he wants to be picked up. As he lifts the boy Vael wiggles around until he's dropping out of Troy's hands and onto the foot of the bed. Troy shoots him a reprimanding look while making sure Wyn wasn't disturbed. Crawling up to the head of the bed Bubba stares at him until he joins the two, being careful not to shift things about as he sits down.

Troy can feel Vael's head on his leg, shuffling around a bit to get comfortable. Once he's sure the wiggle worm is done moving around he opens the book, clearing his throat a little bit.

"We'll try a chapter and see how we feel after that okay? Alright, so this is 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' and the first chapter is The Boy Who Lived. Let's see here. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were-"

Vael's eyes close as Troy's pleasant voice washes over him, content at having both his important people with him. He worried about Mommy, but saw that her colors no longer looked bad. She would be better soon enough, he just had to wait.

He grabbed at the fabric of the pants of the leg he was lying on and fell asleep feeling safe and secure.

* * *

"Get out you aren't wanted here."

"Troy, you and the baby have been stuck in this house for two days, you both need a break and fresh air. Look I get it you don't trust me, but you need to look after yourself and more importantly look after him."

Troy sighs and rubs his face in agitation. They had been going at it for half an hour now and neither one of them wanted to budge. He didn't want to leave Wyn alone with Maya, how was he supposed to know if she would actually stay in the house with her? At the same time he knew she was right, he and Vael were getting stir crazy. And there was only so many one-sided conversations he could handle.

"Look take an hour, just an hour, to go on a walk or go shopping or _something_ and then come back. I'll sit here on the couch with a book and keep an ear out in case she wakes up. If she does I'll call you immediately on your E-phone. She won't be alone...I owe you this, so please take a small break."

Yes she did owe him didn't she? Didn't mean he wanted to leave his best friend with a cowardly back-stabber though. He gears himself up to tell her just that but deflates when Vael throws his favorite toy and starts crying. Kid had been trying to get outside since yesterday afternoon and had gotten progressively more cranky with each thwarted attempt at escape.

Yanking lightly on a handful of hair Troy paces around the house, grabbing things and tossing them into a satchel he throws onto his shoulder. He grumpily yanks on his boots then carefully puts little shoes on Vael's feet, popping him onto his hip as he stands. Troy moves into Maya's personal space and looms over her darkly.

"One hour. Do not touch her. Do not BOTHER her. If she wakes up I better be hearing from you the _very second_ that she does. If you fuck this up _I will make you wish you were dead._ And if you aren't here when we get back, I will raze this planet someway, somehow."

He can feel her fighting with herself about whether to attack him or back down. A short nod is all he gets from Maya as she seats herself on the couch, pulling a book from her hip. Troy is slightly disappointed in her surrender, he's still feeling aggressive but doesn't want to take it out on someone who doesn't deserve it. A hand on his cheek reminds him that Vael is present, and Troy refuses to let Bubba see him acting like a monster. He turns and storms out of the house, calming down the further away he got.

Vael's head is whipping around this way and that trying to take in everything around them. The curious sounds he makes elicits a chuckle out of Troy, the first one in days. Meandering around they find themselves in the Market District before too long, Troy in the mood to look at what's available. They pass several stalls selling different foods, stopping at one selling fruit Troy hadn't seen before. Vael points out a long yellow thing, patting Troy's cheek lightly twice in what he'd come to find meant Bubba was asking for permission to grab it. The woman running the stall informs him it's something called a banana and peels one for them. She slices it up in chunks and holds the plate out to them to try a sample. Vael is quick to stuff one in his mouth before grabbing one and trying to shove it into Troy's.

"Hey hey hey! Easy there, be gentle." He reprimands Vael gently, pleased when the boy looks apologetic. Opening his mouth somewhat Vael slowly puts a piece of the fruit in it, laughing a bit when Troy nibbles lightly on his fingers. The fruit is soft and very sweet without being overpowering. He orders a several of them to be delivered to the house but takes three to keep on his person as a snack for later. They wave cheerily at the fruit lady as they continue on heading into the section of the market that seemed to house cloth and jewelry.

The shine from the sun hitting the jewelry catches his eye and Troy moves over to the stall curious at what they had. Delicate pieces were laid out on display, necklaces on tiny silver chains and rings holding all sorts of gems.

"Do you have something in mind my Lord?" The monk running the stand is by his side in a flash bowing low and keeping his eyes averted. Troy didn't fully understand why they all did that, assuming it had to do with being one of Maya's apprentices. It made him uncomfortable, he wasn't some king or royalty of any sort, however he had already been informed by Maya that nothing he said or did would get them to stop. Troy chews on his lip as he eyes the pieces before him. He didn't know if Wyn even wore jewelry having only ever seen her ear and lip piercings and the small stud in her nose. Rings were out of the question, the thought of giving her one brought on a surge of emotions he couldn't even begin to sort through. Nothing seemed right, nothing screamed _Wyn_ to him.

Vael is pointing at another part of the stall that isn't so bright. Pieces made with dark metals and crystals are laid out on velvet cushions. This is more like what she would wear, he's certain of it. The crystals call to him so Troy moves over to them checking them over carefully. "What are these?"

"Ah those are some pieces from the Crystal Caves down by the shore. I'm not surprised you're drawn to them my Lord, Sirens tend to be drawn to aura crystals. These are refined, with your help we can color them with an aura. I'm guessing you're looking for something for our injured Lady?" Troy gives an embarrassed affirmative and the monk claps happily. "Wonderful, choose a crystal and we'll make a custom piece, free of charge! Hopefully it'll make her feel better sooner."

"Uh...is there a certain way to pick one?" The monk shakes his head so Troy picks up one to get a closer look. It's fairly large and he feels himself frowning. No this one wasn't right. He moves over to a smaller crystal, this one about the size of a pea. Not this one either. Troy stays over towards the smaller crystals, something telling him the one he's looking for is amongst them. Vael shows no interest in any of them, just puts his head on Troy's shoulder and watches him sleepily.

Thanks for the help there Bubba.

Troy is just about ready to give up when one finally seems to react to his aura. It's slightly bigger than his thumb nail, and has been smoothed out into a perfect little sphere. He picks it up and finally Vael shows some interest, staring hard at it.

"Oh good you found one. Now, were you going to use your aura, or the baby's? Or are you going to mix your aura's to color it?" Troy shoots the man a questioning look and the man elaborates for him. "You focus your aura on the crystal for a few seconds and when you pull it back into yourself it'll leave an echo in the crystal. The crystal will then take on the color of your aura. If you focus on your own aura and the baby's at the same time it can mix the colors of both."

"What about Bubba's, can we just use his?"

"Do you not want to use your own aura my Lord?" The monk's bafflement is understandable, but Troy doesn't know how to explain that he didn't think Wyn would want the consistent reminder of him when he was already inside her head. His uncertainty must have shown on his face for the monk gives him a sympathetic look. "Do both of them, trust me it'll be what she appreciates most."

Still uncertain but not wanting to argue or have someone asking personal questions Troy is able to slip into the aura sight, the honey glow of Vael's bright and quizzical, his own forest green soothing and steady. He manipulates his aura to wrap around Vael's like he was giving him a hug, then directs it to the small sphere in his hand. It glows brightly for a few seconds and when he pulls their auras away the glow dims down but doesn't go out completely.

Troy drops the sight and studies the crystal with interest. The gold and green had swirled like a vortex and meshed well together. It was perfect, and he held it out to the jeweler happily. The man takes it from him humming in interest. Troy and Vael watch as the monk takes it over to a table behind the stall with tools scattered about. They are waved over to a bench and Troy sits down setting Bubba down next to him. He pulls out a banana and peels it, breaking off tiny pieces and passing them to Vael before breaking off a bite for himself. They enjoy the snack and the peaceful atmosphere for a while, Troy allowing it to ease some of the anger he held within himself.

The jeweler calls them back over and hands him a velvet box of navy blue. Opening it he sees the crystal wrapped in a delicate white-gold net on a cord of some kind of black leather. A lump catches in his throat and he suddenly feels nervous, would she like it? It was simple but pretty, and Troy didn't think Wyn would want something flashy but he didn't really know. He had _no_ idea what to buy for a woman, or if it was even appropriate. The few things he'd heard his father tell Tyreen was that if a man is buying a woman jewelry it had to be big and flashy and expensive or it didn't mean shit.

He places it carefully in the satchel trying to throw his father's unpleasant voice out of his head. This was supposed to be a chance to relax with Bubba, he could worry about the damn necklace later. Properly thanking the monk, Troy received another low bow as he gathered Vael back up and left the market area. 

Troy debates whether to head back home and changes his mind when he stumbles upon a small park with a play area for children. He takes Vael over to the sandbox and puts him down telling him to go play. Vael looks around at the few children at the park but plops himself down next to Troy grabbing handfuls of sand and letting it run through his hands.

Absentmindedly pushing sand around his hands start to shape it seemingly on their own. Vael gets up and staggers around occasionally, picking little flowers and grabbing blossoms and leaves from the surrounding trees and bringing them back to Troy. Incorporating them into his steadily growing fortress of sand Troy is pleased with how it's turning out, nodding proudly to himself.

Vael smashes his hands into the sand fortress laughing loudly at the destruction then dropping himself onto his back, his head in Troy's lap. He looks up into Troy's irritated face and giggles at him cutely.

"Really Bubba? Was that necessary, I wasn't even done with it yet..." A raspberry is blown at him so Troy pokes the little boy's belly, getting a screeching laugh out of Vael. His own laugh breaks out unexpectedly and it feels good.

When they return home later in the evening Troy is in a much better mood and simply nods at a pacing Maya as he walks into the bedroom to check on Wyn. A quick look over tells him that her bandages had been recently changed. Maya wrings her hands in the doorway as she explains that she checked Wyn over when he was gone longer than expected. The wound was nearly closed now, just a slightly deep gash that would probably be healed by the morning. He whispers out a small thanks and Maya smiles slightly then leaves.

Troy gets Vael dinner then a bath and manages to get another chapter read of Harry Potter before the little guy is yawning and rubbing at his eyes. He holds him in his arms rocking him back and forth in a slow swinging motion. Vael is fighting the sleep stubbornly so Troy sings softly to him. It works and Vael settles burying his face into Troy's chest and relaxing his body. In only a few minutes he's breathing deeply; Troy holds him for a while longer just enjoying the moment. Eventually he places Vael in his crib and pulls a small blanket up to his chest. He runs a hand through the soft curls once before sneaking out of the room.

Returning to the master bedroom Troy pulls his shirt off and switches over to his pajama pants Wyn had gotten him just before they came to Athenas. She had thought it funny that they were lime green and had rainbow unicorns on them, but they were incredibly soft and they fit like a dream so he appreciated the weird gift.

She had pouted cutely when he had been sincerely thankful, sort of upset with herself that her prank had backfired.

Slipping into the bed behind her Troy can't help but pull Wyn close to him, spooning himself behind her to share his body heat. She was colder than normal since being injured, and he hoped she'd be able to subconsciously take comfort from him being there. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her like that again, they'd have to go through him first. Troy buries his nose into her hair as he feels sleep catching up to him.

The scent of her aura is once again clean and he drifts off to the familiar warmth of cream, honey and blackberries that he had come to associate with belonging.


	16. A day of revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some good, some not so great, and some that are life changing.

She finds herself cocooned in warmth when she finally awakens. Slowly opening an eye the dimness of the familiar room brings a small sigh out of her body. Troy is curled around her body protectively, his grip strong and sure but not crushing like she was used to. Turning her head up Wyn can see his sleeping face, the expression on it not quite relaxed. She lightly runs her finger down his nose and over his forehead, trying to smooth out tightened muscles. He pulls her body closer to his, avoiding putting any weight from his right arm on her side.

Wyn barely remembers waking at some point earlier, being carried by Troy, her side in immense pain. She pushes his arm down to rest on her hip and feels along her side. About two centimeters below her ribs she feels the change in her skin. Running her fingers over it back and forth to gauge how bad it is, Wyn is surprised she had a scar at all. It must have been a horrible wound, all her previous scars she'd had were gone when she woke up on Pandora, and none of her wounds had been bad enough to not heal within a matter of hours.

The scar was probably six inches long, and had no sensitivity whatsoever. Like a years old wound; propping up on her elbow she is able to look at it, noticing it had faded to a silvery color. Wyn found her self strangely happy that she could still scar her body, it was unnerving looking in a mirror at flawless skin. She hated looking "perfect," it gave others a reason to stare at her with hungry eyes.

Remembering how she got the damn thing was proving difficult. Not really wanting to, but feeling it was very important, Wyn tries to gently wake up Troy. She cards her fingers through his silky black hair, scratching lightly at his scalp as she does. Wyn tries really hard not to get distracted by his purring as he starts to wake, but a tiny giggle makes it way between her fingers.

"Stop Wyn it's too earl...Wyn?!" Blinking his eyes rapidly she can see his icy blues widen before they start searching her over, probably checking for any additional injuries, or the state of injuries she wasn't aware of. Grabbing his chin she pulls his face up so she can look at him properly. The relief that settles onto his features makes her feel both warm and worried. A small pit settles in her gut as he stares into her face, barely touching it with his fingertips as if not believing that she is there in front of him.

"Hey Troy. What happened? I can't really remember anything."

His eyes meet hers, then he looks away quickly withdrawing his hand as he does so. Nausea hits her suddenly at his reaction, something awful must have happened.

"Tro-" "Hey how about I get you some coffee or something, it's been days since you've had any." He is nervous as he sits up, untangling himself from the blankets and sheets that had wrapped around the two as they slept. Wyn levels a glare his way, wondering if he was being serious. Seeing that he was indeed going to be getting out of bed and running off, she straddles herself over his hips, pinning his shoulders to the bed beneath him. Troy doesn't fight her knowing it would be useless to do so, Wyn was stubborn and bullheaded at the best of times. It bothers her how much he avoids looking at her.

"Tell me, I deserve to know. What the hell happened up there?"

"What do you remember?" Troy softly asks. Wyn racks her brain for a minute, a frown taking over her face at the lack of memory. "Um, we were firing our weapons at the horde that was coming towards us. I was reloading and noticed one that popped up from behind you. I screamed your name, then it threw you across the room. You hit a wall hard enough to crater it...I think I heard bones breaking and you coughed up blood...then nothing. I remember I felt _so_ incredibly angry and worried for you, then I guess I blacked out?"

He puffs out a held breath slowly, his body language unsure and twitchy. "It would probably be easier to show you what happened, I don't think you'd believe me otherwise. Is it okay if I...?" He holds his left hand up near her head, waiting for permission to go into her mind once more. Wyn swallows down a lump in her throat and nods. Troy is oh so gentle as he touches her once again, his thumb ghosting across her temple. He closes his eyes as his burgundy marks light up, and she can feel him probing at her mind with his own. She closes her own eyes and sees images flash by like a movie.

The creature of darkness, of _destruction_ from his memories is terrifying, especially when she moves to strike him with a killing blow. Those dead black eyes would haunt Wyn's dreams for the rest of her life, the roars of rage it had unleashed left a rattling feeling in her bones. She can feel the utter terror that Troy had felt seeing her like that.

She is quiet when he returns to himself, numb from head to toe. Troy is studying her face, trying to understand her reaction and how she was feeling.

"Wyn?"

A burning in her eyes, her throat closing itself off bit by bit, her limbs shaking. She knew it would go after him if he caught its notice, now she had the proof. Wyn was dangerous, nobody was safe around her. Troy prodding at her arm catches her attention, his face serious and bleak.

"I really am a monster, aren't I?"

He's moving before she can comprehend it, and Wyn flinches instinctively attempting to push herself away from him and off his lap. Troy has her pulled down onto his chest quicker than a flash, right arm pinning her against his body and his left fisted into her hair to keep her from escaping.

"NO, you are _not_ a monster! Don't you dare to _ever_ call yourself a monster again, okay?! Look...you are still just Wyn, you just need to learn to control that side of your powers. We _both_ need to refine our abilities. But guess what? When we do we're going to be the most impressive, unstoppable, kick-ass team in the history of ever, me and you."

Her face burns at his passionate words, knowing he believed them with every fiber of his being. Wyn buried her face into Troy's chest trying to hide her reaction as best as she could. What was it about this man that made her want to better herself as much as possible, where did he get such confidence and optimism? Troy made her feel like she could do anything, he brought so much warmth and comfort. She didn't deserve him, but she was selfish, and Wyn didn't ever want to let him go.

_Me and you sounds really nice..._

* * *

As he watches her happily sipping away at a mug of coffee, Troy wonders to himself about what was going to happen now. A part of him regretted showing her what transpired at the temple ruins, but she needed to know. It was a part of her, she needed to know about it so she could work on controlling it. But oh god how his heart had hurt when she called herself a monster! He could feel her trying to close herself off from her emotions, and wouldn't allow it to happen. 

True he had been terrified, but Troy had thrown that all away when she lay dying in his arms. Wyn had needed him, and she _had_ managed to stop herself from hurting him. He trusted her, now she needed to trust him.

He notices her watching him again, though outwardly Troy doesn't react simply observing her from his peripheral vision. She eyes him carefully, a look of consideration on her face that makes him want to squirm. Troy distracts himself by remembering he had a gift for her, then feels his nerves return as the realization she may not like it.

Grabbing his satchel from the floor near the foot of the bed, he pulls it onto his lap and plays with the buckle keeping it closed. Wyn looks at him curiously, and Troy nearly chucks it out of his hands. He curbs his nerves and sits up straighter focusing on keeping calm.

"Hey Wyn, I got something for you. As a get better gift thing, I think...actually I'm not really sure _why_ I got it for you but...uh...well here..." He pulls out the velvet case and thrusts it at her quickly without bothering to look up at her. It's silent for several moments, Troy staring at his fingers that are twisting the bottom of his pajamas. Her quiet gasp makes him jerk his head up suddenly, noting the look of disbelief on Wyn's face.

"I didn't know what you'd like since I don't see you wear jewelry but I didn't think you'd want something big or flashy since you don't like attention on you..." The look on Wyn's face is indiscernible, and Troy feels crushed when she hands the necklace back over to him. He's confused when she turns her back to him and pulls her hair up off her neck.

"Will you put it on for me please?"

Shaking hands struggle with the clasp for a minute. When he gets it opened he slips it around her neck and locks the clasp over one of the tiny rings to complete the loop. The act of putting it on for her feels very intimate, his fingertips feel like a fire is spreading from them where they brush against the bare skin of her neck. It's only then he realizes that she's still only wearing underwear and bindings around her chest. His breath catches when she turns her face towards him, the emotion in her eyes anchoring him in place. A beautiful smile lifts her lips upwards and his stomach lurches.

The crystal lays in the dip of her throat where her collar bones meet invitingly. He's staring at her, and internally berating himself for doing so. He averts his eyes off of her as she slides across the bed to one of the nightstands, pulling out a small box and holding it out to him.

"I was going to wait for your birthday, but May is still quite a ways away, and this seems like an appropriate time. I wasn't able to get it properly restored, so I hope this is okay."

Troy opens the box with hesitation, not understanding what Wyn is speaking about. Sitting inside of it is a rectangle made of crystal, the periwinkle color dusted with gold. He picks it up and notices the long cord of leather, chocolate in color, hanging from it.

"Open it, it's a locket." Wyn suggests in a meek tone, eyes glued to his face. Troy finds the tiny button on the side and pushes it in. The face of the locket makes a click noise and pops up slightly, and he has to choke down a sob when he pulls it open completely. He had thought he had thrown this away in a drug-induced rage.

His mother's face smiles up at him happily, the silly faces of himself and his sister at five years old eliciting a chuckle out of him. And then he's holding the locket to his chest and the tears won't stop running down his face. He grabs Wyn's arm roughly and pulls her to him making her squeak. Troy puts everything he can into the hug he crushes her with, her arms circling around his back from under his arms to crush him in response breaks him down and he sobs.

"I found it when doing laundry, it was crumpled up so tightly into a little ball and I tried my best to flatten it. One of the monks here does photography as a hobby, and she wasn't able to restore it completely but...well Brother Jason was able to work with her and me to copy the image onto an aura crystal. I have the original photograph still, but it's not in the best condition. Sister Anna found a slipcover to keep it in, it's in the bottom of the box I gave you."

"Thank you...I was so mad at myself when I couldn't find it. I wanted to get rid of it at the time but...thank you."

As she takes the locket from his fingers and puts it over his head, Troy has one thought stuck in his head that he can't dispel no matter how hard he tries.

He is definitely in love with Wyn.

* * *

Hours later he's playing with Vael in the living room, Wyn in the kitchen baking scones and singing along to some pop song he can't quite hear. His emotions are all over the place with the revelation he had had earlier. Troy didn't have a single idea what to do. Was he supposed to tell her he was in love with her? Was there a certain way to do that?

Vael babbling to himself catches his attention and Troy shakes those worries out of his head for the time being. Finishing the word he had been making with the letter blocks Troy gets Vael's attention and points to them.

"Okay Bubba, do you know what this says? This spells out the word 'mom' so can you say mom? Or mama?" He gets some indecipherable sounds, and shakes his head at Vael. "No no, Ma-Ma, say it like that. What about me, can you say my name? Trrrroy, my name is Troy."

Vael giggles at him and resumes playing, much to his slight frustration. He came so close to saying an actual word at times, but then would conveniently forget how to when they called him out on it. Troy was determined to help the kid speak and be understood.

Wyn joins them in the living room, sitting on a chair and watching them play with bright eyes. She placed her chin on a fist and smiled in amusement at a toy Vael held up for her perusal. 

"Alright Bubba, let's try something easier then. Can you say hi?" Vael's attention focuses on Troy and he attempts to sound out the word. Excitement fills Troy's chest and he tries to get him to do it again. When Vael starts to get frustrated and begins to shut down Troy pleads with him one more time.

"C'mon buddy you are _so close_ I know you can do it this time. Say hi for me okay?"

Vael's face shows he's thinking it over, the same look he would get when he was first attempting to walk. Troy and Wyn wait patiently with bated breath, wondering if he'd try once more or give up. A decision is clearly made when Vael looks into Troy's eyes a healthy amount of determination in his own.

"Hi Da-Da."

Time seems to screech to a halt, Wyn looking very surprised with her hands covering her mouth and eyes wide. Troy feels all the air leave him, something ugly taking up its place.

Vael thought of him as his dad? But...but he _wasn't_ his dad...

Why did that pain him _so much?_

"Troy ar-" He didn't stick around to hear what she had to say, getting up quickly Troy rushes out of the house, hitting the dirt road at a sprint. Troy didn't think he just ran and ran until his lungs hurt as much as his heart did, then he kept going. Bile burns his throat as tries not to choke pulling in short breaths raggedly.

Troy collapses at the base of a large tree, its branches swaying almost mockingly in the light breeze that had picked up. The area was still otherwise, the tranquility palpable on his tongue and against his aura. A sound like a wounded animal escapes him unbidden as he curls up into himself, fighting the raging storm within himself.

It hurts, why does it hurt? Troy knew logically that this shouldn't surprise him. Vael isn't his child, Troy had never considered him to be. Right? No, Vael was his little buddy, that was all he was. The squeezing feeling in his chest feels like a reprimand from his body for the lie. His body cramps up as a consequence of keeping himself balled up so tightly so he uncurls himself. On his back Troy can see the sky darkening with the setting of the sun, twinkling stars beginning to peak out behind the purples and pinks up above.

He loved Bubba as if he was his own flesh and blood, Troy admitted to himself that he had for some time now. His love for Wyn was different but just as strong. And neither of them were his. Troy thought of himself as the biggest fool ever. What could he possibly offer to either of them? Wyn wasn't even interested in him romantically, she would want whoever she falls in love with to be a father to her son.

Another whimper strangles him, and he mourns for something he never had. Considering his absolute shit luck, he never _would._ Troy thinks in that sad silent moment, as the grass beneath his head is soaked with his tears, that he must have done something utterly horrible in a previous life to be punished this way by the universe.

Why does he always lose the people he loves?

Weak, so very weak. His father would scoff at him if he was present. And probably kick at him while reminding him that he would never have happiness. Broken burdens that are a waste of space shouldn't dare to dream of something wonderful like a happy family and home. 

He would return later, for now Troy just needed to let himself _feel_ everything he had been holding on to. It had been so stressful lately, he felt stretched too thin. Here and now was probably the only time he'd have where he could be alone to do so safely. It was draining and painful and _freeing_ to open up and exist in the moment.

Afterwards he felt parched, his eyes and face tight and his body weighed down with exhaustion, and he hadn't felt so good in his life. A sort of weightlessness emanated from the inside out, an acceptance of who he really was. He was Troy Calypso, formally Troy DeLeon. The loved and wanted child of Leda Calypso, the unwanted and unloved child of Typhon DeLeon. He was weak, and yet he was strong. Broken, but a survivor. A Siren, an apprentice, a Crimson Raider maybe.

A friend. Someone's best friend even. Who had been gone from the home for a couple of hours now after freaking out and running off. Oh yeah, probably should get back.

Troy is in no hurry and drags his feet all the way down the dirt road to their quaint little home. He can see a light still on in the distance, Wyn's silhouette moving back and forth across the window next to the front door. She had been worried then; feeling like a jerk for it Troy is nonetheless reassured by her obvious anxiety over him not being home once the sun had gone down.

Soundlessly slipping through the front door he waits for Wyn to notice his presence. She startles somewhat upon noticing him. Walking to him quietly Wyn grabs his hand and leads him to the couch. As he sits she fiddles with the sleeves of his hoodie she's wearing gearing herself up for something.

"I'm sorry that Vael said that to you, though I wasn't expecting such a visceral reaction to it. Please know I didn't teach him that, I would never assume anything of the sort from you."

"I know you didn't." Troy's tender reply seems to leave her at a loss for words. Wyn leaves the room then but returns shortly afterwards with some papers in her hands. Her gaze on him is calculating as she holds them out to him. Delicately pulling them from her fingers he peruses them, eyes growing larger as he does. Troy ogles her afterwards feeling like someone is playing a crummy joke on him and praying it's not a joke.

"Listen, as far as I'm concerned, you _are_ his dad Troy. You have been for what feels like forever. You are the only father he's ever known, but I get that maybe it doesn't feel that way to you. So I've filled out my part of the paperwork, if you want to make this official then finish it and take it to the postal carrier to be mailed in. It's your decision and I won't be bringing it up again. But no matter what you are his dad, his _only_ dad and that's never going to change, whether you finish the adoption papers or not. I've been sitting on them a while but it never seemed like the right time to talk about this. Vael's in bed asleep already, and I'm going to go lie down myself. Just give it some serious thought, yeah?"

She gives him a quick hug then disappears into their bedroom, the door softly shut behind her. This was unexpected and he was having difficulty comprehending it all. She had even left the option of Vael's last name up to him. So what should he do? Wyn said she thought of him as the boy's dad already, did he need to make it official?

Troy studies the paperwork for a while longer then makes a decision.

Before turning in for the night Troy let's himself into the nursery. As he cards his fingers carefully through Vael's hair the thought that maybe he was a little bit lucky pops into his head. Troy leans over the crib to brush his lips against Bubba's forehead doing his best not to wake him from his slumber. 

"Goodnight Vael, Daddy loves you."


	17. The teatime of Maya's heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adding to one's family

Something was different about them today. Or...well she _thought_ something had changed. Then again, what the hell did she know? Maya frowns to herself at the thought, guilt making her stomach hurt and she shifted her weight on her feet anxiously. Whatever had happened, she thought that her apprentices seemed more relaxed, and Troy appeared more confident than she had ever seen him yet.

Even now while he was sitting with his back against a tree, drawing something in a thick sketchpad, his body language said he didn't have a care in the world. If Maya was a betting woman she'd hazard a guess that he was drawing the two people sitting a ways away from him, making flower crowns of daisies. The soft smile on Troy's face as he looked at Vael and Wyn hit Maya with a bout of melancholy. She remembers her own giant of a man who would look at her with that same look, and how she had had to leave him behind. Maya could have brought him to Athenas with her, nobody would have argued with her about having another person to offer protection to the planet but...she couldn't. Maya was well aware of just how strongly he had felt about her, and she couldn't return his feelings. She had never felt anything like romantic inclinations towards anybody, and Maya didn't think she ever would. 

Krieg is her family, but she didn't want to encourage that flame he held for her. Again, acting like a coward and running away from someone. At the time she had believed they would have all been alright, they had the Crimson Raiders after all. And Lilith had promised her that they would be well taken care of.

_Lies,_ a thought hissed in her head unbidden. Maya feels her anxiety spike and her frown wrinkles her whole face. Something was wrong with her sister Siren, the Lilith she remembered would never had made a promise she had no intentions of keeping. 

At times Maya regretted leaving Athenas that first time and going to Pandora. She regretted leaving Pandora and with it her team. Now she had more to add to the crushing weight of her guilt. Her apprentices needed her to step up and stop fucking around. 

And since she was stuck on what exactly to teach them, maybe it was time for them to be more active in planning out their training. Feeling resolute in her decision Maya finally makes herself known, though it was very likely they had already felt her hovering along the edges of their property. Wyn studies her with a blank face, Vael gives her a small wave. Troy ignores her existence, the only sign he'd noticed her was a slight stiffening of his muscles and the pause of his pencil.

"Um...hey guys. Wyn, how are you feeling?" Wyn looks over Troy's way, Maya following with her eyes. He gives her a challenging look, however Maya refuses to back down again. She keeps her body language non-threatening but doesn't break eye contact with him. Something she would tentatively call respect flickers in his eyes and he looks away first so that his attention is on Wyn. Whatever passes between them causes Troy to relax somewhat and he joins the group, Vael immediately moving to sit in his lap once he's on the ground. Maya hides her smile as Vael puts a flower crown on Troy's head, the man kissing the side of his temple.

"I'm alright thanks. What can we do for you?" Wyn's reply to her initial question is somewhat short and guarded.

"The better question is what can I do for _you guys_ I think. What is it you want to learn, what skills do you want to improve? I don't know whether I can help you with mastering your abilities, there is nothing written about your particular abilities, in fact they are probably brand new. It's likely you will have to figure them out on your own. However, Athenas has a sort of partnership with masters on another planet. If you would like a mastery in a particular fighting style or weapon, I can arrange that. I can help you with learning other Siren basics. This isn't about me, really, it's about the two of you. Where do you want to go from here?"

"Why should we turn to you, trust you? We don't know anything about you except that you're a Siren and used to be part of the Crimson Raiders." Troy brings up a good point, and while Maya doesn't really want to talk about herself, she understands that she has to give them something. She tugs lightly on one of her long bangs discomfort clear for them to see.

"That's fair...so...what do you want to know about me?"

"Why did you leave the Crimson Raiders? Lilith acts like you broke up with her or something whenever anyone has mentioned you around her." Maya finds herself surprised by Wyn's words unaware that Lilith had a problem with her.

"I came back to Athenas because I was needed here. You guys know about the vows of non-violence, Athenas has been ruled by a Siren for most of its existence for protection. And I ran off to Pandora without a second thought when I found out I was being used to blackmail and terrorize the people here. I wanted to learn about the other worlds, and find more Sirens if I could. But I left this place with a fractured leadership and no protection from any outside sources." Maya shifts a bit with nerves, staring at her fingers as she plays with them. "It wasn't the only reason of course, just the main one. I had my own group I was a part of when with the Raiders. We all met on our way to Opportunity, thinking Handsome Jack was hiring us to be Vault Hunters for him. He tried to kill us, how unfortunate for him that we are hard to kill."

A smile overcomes her as she remembers the other Vault Hunters, her memories bringing forward emotions she tried on a daily basis to not dwell on. All three of them are enthralled with her story, and Maya can't help herself. She tells them everything, from the takedown of Handsome Jack to the tiny little things like Axton having long one-sided conversations with his turrets. Or Gaige making her a stuffed bear for her birthday one year. Salvador sharing his Grandmother's famous cooking tips. Zero trying to teach her Old World culture. And Krieg...

Maya chokes up whenever she tries to talk about Krieg. Of all the Vault Hunters, he was the one she had been closest with. She understood him in a way no one else had been able to. While the rest of her family had eventually figured out a way to communicate with him clearly with some translation from Maya and Krieg's body language, she was the only one who always knew what he was saying, what he was feeling. The only one who knew about his two different personalities living in one body, and how hard he was trying to get control over the two.

Maya startles when a handkerchief is held in front of her face, Troy giving her a sympathetic looks as he holds it for her to take. She gives him a soft thanks and dabs at her eyes, attempting poorly to pull herself together. Maya hadn't talked about her team in a long time, up until this point she hadn't realized how much she misses them.

"What happened with Krieg?" Wyn is gentle with her prodding question but it still makes Maya flinch.

"He..." Maya clears her throat trying to talk around the lump in it. "He fell in love with me, hard. And I couldn't return his feelings. It's nothing against him but...I'm what's called aro ace. It means I don't have romantic or sexual feelings for anybody, and most likely never will. And I'm okay with that, I can still feel love for someone, my team is my family and I love all of them. But I will never be able to give Krieg or anyone else more than that. He has been through so much, and I didn't want to keep encouraging him. I don't know if he would have understood me if I told him, or thought I was just making up excuses to let him down gently. So I left him and the rest of the team with the Crimson Raiders and came back here."

"Why weren't they there when we were then?" Troy is agitated while asking this, Wyn mirroring him in her confusion. It didn't make sense to have some of the most capable fighters and explorers not there.

"I was told by Lilith that they had all left for their own reasons, she refused to elaborate beyond that." The looks that cross over on her apprentice's faces brings her hackles up. Maya was missing something, and dreaded asking what it was knowing it centered around Lilith.

"Are...um, are you sure that's all there was to it?"

"Well, no. I did manage to get ahold of Zero. The whole situation after I left wasn't...pretty I guess..." A scowl makes its way onto Troy's face and he mumbles something under his breath. "Lilith didn't trust that Krieg could keep control of himself, the rest of the team argued with her over caging him up like an animal, so she kicked them all out. They all went their own separate ways. Nobody knows where Krieg is, Zero did say he's got connections in high places so is looking for him and will let me know."

"And if he's found, what then?" It's a question that is thrown in her face passive-aggressively.

"I'm going to do what I should have the first time. I'm going to bring my family back home with me where they belong. All of them if I can. No more running away, no more complacency, and no more blindly giving out my trust when it hasn't necessarily been earned, or ignoring red flags when they're waving in my face."

Both Wyn and Troy nod their heads at that, the atmosphere losing its heady tension. She looked between the two of them who seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes. More likely inside their heads now that she thought about it.

"What exactly is your beef with Lilith?" She throws out there, testing her theory that something had happened. The looks between the two has her tensing up, their explanation leaving her filled with dread and disgust.

Maya is done denying that she doesn't know Lilith as much as she believed she did. The Crimson Raiders were falling apart and she was allowing it to happen. Lilith was obsessed with finding that damn map when she should be more concerned with taking care of her people.

"She never told me any of this...why...?" Maya's question to herself is overheard even though she had whispered it. Wyn narrows her eyes and gives her a look that screamed "are you serious?!" 

"Right, so, moving on. I am an archer, so if you can find someone to help me refine my archery so I can use it in battle, that'd be great." Wyn was quick to change the subject not wanting to dwell any longer on thoughts that left a bad taste in the mouth. Maya shot her a grateful look and nodded her head thoughtfully. 

"Shouldn't be too difficult. Troy what about you, what would you like to do?"

He shrugs at her looking a little lost. Wyn places a hand on his arm, giving him smile of encouragement. Troy fidgets for a minute, them mumbles out "using a sword might be kind of cool I guess." He looks so shy and childish in that moment, Maya has a fleeting thought of wanting to pinch his cheeks.

"I've got some calls to make then. I'll be back later, there might be something I could use your help with." The two perk up in interest as she leaves their property, and Maya dares to hope that they are willing to forgive her. She has realized that she needs to spend some actual time with them.

It could be fun after all.

* * *

"This was a stupid-ass idea!" Wyn yells out to anyone who would bother listening, trying to aim properly through the torrent that was currently attempting to drown them. It would probably be easier if there weren't civilians running around in a panic, getting into her line-of-sight. She could probably get away with claiming offing one of them as an accidental killing if she wasn't using her bow. An arrow is easier to identify than a stray bullet after all.

Maya's idea of spending time with them had been to drag them off to a hidden Black Market in order to try and bring down an arms dealer who used to work for Hyperion, and ran drugs on the side. Maya didn't want anything to do with that particular company, and drugs were disgusting and dangerous. Apparently she had seen one too many overdoses while on Pandora and had no interest in seeing one happen where she was responsible.

Wyn couldn't fault her for that. What she could fault her for was bad information, which led to their current predicament. Even though they had all changed their looks at a Quick Change machine before making their way into the underbelly of Athenas, Maya was too well known. They were all fully covered, no Siren markings showing, but her face was still recognizable. 

Those running their illegal businesses scattered like cockroaches when word spread, some heading to the space port to leave, most diving behind some sort of cover and opening fire. So on the downside, Wyn, Troy, and Maya were in the middle of a firefight in the pouring rain. An upside to the whole debacle is Wyn had learned she could use Healing to shield other people, having instinctively thrown a glowing bubble over the area when someone tried to lob a grenade at them.

**Don't you just hate Mondays?** Is asked with heavy sarcasm. Did he really have to say cheesy shit in the middle of a fight?!

**~No more Archive cartoons for you, you're grounded. Also never say anything so stupid in the middle of a fight ever again~**

**I make absolutely no promises! And you can't ground me I'm a grown ass adult y'know!** A barrel of something combustive goes off next to Troy causing him to yelp out loudly; Wyn watches him diving under the table at a stand, a cloud of some icy substance billowing behind him. He flips the table just in time preventing it from touching his person.

**~Hey Troy, y'dead man? If you are can I have your keychain collection?~** He shoots her a nasty looks as he stands and throws his Tediore SMG, another one materializing in its place. Wyn quickly ducks down as bullets are spit out of the discarded gun at high speeds, glaring back Troy's way. **~Shut your stupid smirky face up, you could have given me some warning!~**

**Oh I'm sorry, you were over there acting so self-assured I assumed you were aware of everything going on around you. Next time I'll be sure to yell "Wyn don't get hit in the ass" when I reload, shall I?**

Maya's maniacal laughter draws their attention, their mentor running about Phase locking people into floating bubbles that burned with one hand, and firing a Maliwan SMG with fairly good accuracy in the other. The green hue the bullets from her gun took on hinting at corrosive damage being one of the gun's perks.

"Oi Maya, you having enough fun or what?!" Troy yells out over the uproar, only aware she had heard him by her turning towards him for half a second to smile largely and give him a thumbs up.

"Troy pay attention to what's going on around you! There's no time for playing we're outnumbered twenty to one!" Wyn can't help being a little vexed at both of them enjoying themselves far too much. She just wanted to finish up and go home, maybe bake something to help calm her nerves. She wasn't like Troy, she hadn't gone out on missions for the Raiders and therefore hadn't ever killed another human before. The worst part is she can't remember any one face of the people she had killed within the last ten minutes, her first kill was due to an arrow hitting a red barrel that had exploded and killed six people instantly within its vicinity. Wyn could still smell cooking flesh in the air and it made her gag. Still, she didn't feel _too_ bad considering this was a kill or be killed situation. Then again that was probably the adrenaline talking.

**Hey relax will you! This is a blast, have some fun with it!** Troy crowed in her head, barreling towards the group Maya was engaged with throwing a heavy table their way. It knocks over two men and clips the arm of a third causing him to lose balance, Maya taking advantage of this to kick his feet out from under him and Troy brings the table down on his face. The crunching of facial bones can be heard over the deluge, Maya holding out her fist and Troy meeting his own to hers.

Wyn digistructs her bow away and joins the other two, engaging in hand-to-hand with the dealers. At some point she feels Troy's back against her own, and they begin moving in tandem with one another unconsciously. He shoots an idea into her head, Wyn agreeing to it readily even as she rolls her eyes. They quickly turn to face each other, grasping their right hands over the other's wrist. Troy swings her around giving Wyn the chance to kick four of the men surrounding them, in disbelief over the fact that had worked. Troy's lets out an exuberant laugh, his utter delight starting to rub off on her.

The three Sirens must have looked deranged to anyone who watched them mow down their opposition, laughing hysterically the entire time.

Once the last person had fallen, Maya walks around the square they were in, peeking her head around in the shops looking for anyone they may have missed. Wyn takes shelter under an overhang at the front of a shop. The smell coming from it has her hazard a guess that it's a menagerie, and curious she steps inside. She can see in cages lining the walls with different creatures that appeared to be elemental. She recognized a few from Pandora, but most were animals she'd never seen before. A shimmering in the corner of her eye catches her attention. Moving to the very back of the shop Wyn slows down her walking speed when a distressed whining responds to her footsteps. A cage with a sheet hanging half way off of it is next to an aquarium that appeared to only hold some bioluminescent plant. Carefully pulling the sheet off to the side Wyn sees what looks like some kind of cat in the cage.

Troy appears at her elbow in the next moment, his eyes wide and jaw slack. He seems almost reverent in his perusal of the cat. Holding his hand out to it, he ignores it hissing and spitting at him and waits patiently for it to catch his smell. It's when a little pink nose is rubbing against his fingers that Wyn notices a bioluminescent glow coming from the cat that nearly matched the plant in the water. Troy nudges her and jerks his head towards the aquarium, asking her to grab it as he opens the cage and pulls the feline out into his arms. Standing carefully he leaves the shop with Wyn right on his heels.

They see Maya in the distance waving at them as she turns and goes back up the mostly hidden path that lead back to their small village. Maya had clearly called some kind of clean-up crew considering the line of monks heading into the square. They follow the path at a sedate pace so the two can get a chance to look the creature over.

It looked almost like a snow leopard to Wyn, but it appeared much sleeker and skinnier. She couldn't tell how big it would be seeing as it was a cub, but she didn't think it'd get to the same size as a snow leopard based on how the paws were smaller. It had a crème colored coat, and the spots and markings on it's body were every color she could think of. This cat thing looked like a living Opal stone to her. Studying the small aquarium in her own arms Wyn takes a guess that the plant in it is some sort of moss, it appeared to be growing on the stones in the tank.

They hurry back home as quickly as they can with their arms bogged down by their unexpected prizes. Maya meets them at the doorway, an umbrella held over her head while she ushers them inside. The three converge in the kitchen, Wyn looking for a hand towel in order to start drying the strange cub. It's unnecessary as the thing shakes itself flinging water droplets everywhere, and its fur fluffs out like it had just had a hair dryer run over its body.

"Uh...what is that thing?"

"This is what is called a spriggen, they're exceptionally rare." Maya tells her with awe in her voice. "There's probably only about a hundred of them still alive, and they can only be found here on Athenas. The monks say they're spirits who can bring good luck if you spot one. They live at the top of the highest mountains on Athenas, where there's plenty of caves and bodies of water for them to thrive."

"I never thought I'd get to see one." Troy says almost to himself, lightly running his hand down the spriggen's back, it purring loudly in response. "There were Eridian ruins back home where I grew up, some of them had statues of spriggens being worshipped."

"Like how the Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats?" Wyn asks, only to get twin looks of confusion sent her way. She deflates a bit at that, hating how she couldn't seem to find a connection to the useless knowledge in her head and the universe around her.

"Um, yeah sure we'll go with that." Troy tries to placate her, it makes Wyn want to sink into a hole and not come back out again. "Anyways, they eat fish and other aquatic creatures. That moss you have grows in the waters where they hunt, it helps them blend in with their surroundings. They have pretty bad eyesight for some reason, I can't remember why though."

"They are aura-sensitive creatures, they depend on reading auras to hunt and travel around. It's why they avoid populated areas, too many auras will overwhelm their senses." Maya answers as she rubs its chin. The spriggen partially closes its purple eyes, its purring increasing to a loud rumble that Wyn swears she can feel through the floor.

"Are we keeping it?" She asks with hesitation, it is a wild cat after all and may not be safe to have around Vael.

"She is a female, and yes I think we should keep her. She's too young to be away from her pack already, it's very likely she has imprinted on us which explains her calm demeanor." Troy says almost defensively. "It shouldn't be dangerous to have her around Vael as long as we teach him not to pull on her tail or ears, she probably wouldn't tolerate it. Now, what should we name her?"

"You said the monks think they're spirits, and they live near rivers and streams right?" Wyn asks for clarification. Maya nods an affirmative and Wyn snaps her fingers. "I got it, let's call her Cyhiraeth. It's the name of the Welsh Goddess of Streams, which is sort of fitting don't you think?"

"Well I was thinking more..." Troy says something in a language she doesn't understand, it sounding harsh even though it flowed almost melodically off his tongue. Maya appears freaked out by it though.

"What the fuck Troy, you speak Eridian?! Why didn't you ever say anything?!"

"Well it's not like anyone asked. I learned it from all of my mom's research, it's not like I had much else to do with my life growing up except study while sick in bed."

"Can you read it too?" He nods at Maya who does a small happy dance in place and suddenly throws her arms around him. Troy nearly drops the newest member of their family in his shock. "Oh my god, you have to help me with translating some journals later then okay? Please?" He dumbly nods at her and Wyn just laughs into a fist. "Alright, awesome. Anyways, I'll go get Vael later, so take the time to shower and take a break. That was enough excitement for one day I think, time to relax."

With that Maya waves and leaves their home. Troy takes Cyhiraeth into the nursery and sets up a little spot for her in the corner, building her a nest of blankets. While he gets the spriggen settled Wyn heads into their bedroom trying to peel the soaked clothes from her body. The pants come off easily enough as does the hoodie, but trying to peel her own tank top off is proving difficult. She manages to shimmy out of it and goes to remove her panties when Troy walks in. They stare at each other for a few stunned moments before Wyn realizes she's essentially naked in front of him. Squeaking loudly she runs into the attached bathroom yelling for him to knock next time. Her heart is pounding so hard she's afraid it will escape from her chest, a blush taking over her entire being. Heat pools in her pelvis area, and Wyn curses herself out for her body's reaction to Troy checking her out, there was no denying the way his eyes had traveled over her flesh hungrily.

For some reason it didn't make her feel disgusted. Stripping off the last of her clothing Wyn groans to herself as she hops in the shower. He's her friend, she shouldn't be letting her mind wander or jump to conclusions about him. Unprompted, the memory of him doing pull ups on the tree entered the forefront of her brain. Wyn smacks her head against the wall, but when that doesn't dispel it she huffs to herself in displeasure.

"Whatever, what he doesn't know won't hurt anything." She convinces herself as her fingers find their way to her already slick folds. A small part of herself feels guilty, but the majority of her doesn't care as she loses herself in pleasure.

Wyn really needed to get laid, then this kind of thing wouldn't be a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to **Mauser_Frau** for helping me create our kitty baby!
> 
> For those who were wondering, her name is pronounced [psy-hi-wraith] but for future chapters she will probably just have her name shortened down to Cy.
> 
> Imagine Troy walking around everywhere with this big cat sprawled across his shoulders, because that's going to be her favorite spot on her favorite person.


	18. What happens in Promethea...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one's hard work gets rewarded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIIIIIVE!!
> 
> Alrighty so I know it's been a hot minute, but real life got in the way and made things sad for a while. This is part one of a three part thingy. I was gonna wait to post this until all of it was done, but I've had some people ask me when it's going up so I'll just do it. Part two is a collaboration so I'll be updating to add a link to that in the closing notes once it's finished, then posting part three and continuing Gambit. 
> 
> Thanks for your patience!

"Will you just sit still please?! Good god knock it off I'm almost done!"

"It tiiiiickles! Hurry up this is torture!"

"Gaah, don't pull my hair so hard ya fuck! I swear to all that is holy I WILL pinch the skin in between your toes if you do that again! Now chill out and give me three more minutes. Can you manage that big baby?"

Looking over her shoulder Wyn can see his face pucker up at the insult, but Troy wisely nods his head when he notices her fingers moving to grab in between his toes. Her eyes narrow at him in warning when she sees him winding some of her hair around his hands. It was one thing to tug on it here and there while he was trying to figure out how to braid it, it is another thing entirely for him to pull on it on purpose just to be a little shit.

Turning back to the foot in her hands Wyn studies it to make sure none of the lacquer had gotten onto skin. Re-dipping the brush into the bottle she wipes the excess off then carefully runs is over the nail on his littlest toe. Troy tenses up but manages not to twitch or jerk it away again; it must have taken all of his concentration, she knew that since his marks had spread all the way down to his foot and wrapped around his smallest toe his left foot was especially sensitive. On those days where he was having a really tough time of everything she'd give his feet a good rub down to help him relax. He'd crack up over the lightest touch on his marks so she'd need to be more forceful with that one. Or deliberately tickle him if he was being a bit of an ass.

Capping the gold polish Wyn lightly runs a finger over the other nails to check that they had finished drying. He had been right about jewel tones looking good against his skin, his feet looking like a very expensive rainbow.

She had been so upset when he had told her the story of his sister and him finding their mom's stuff, and being yelled at by his dad afterwards. It was understandable they wanted to find some way to connect with their mother whom Troy didn't really speak about, why was it their dad couldn't be more open about it? Then again, the bitterness in Troy's voice when he spoke of the man told her a lot about the relationship, or lack thereof, between father and son. Another thing they seemed to have in common. 

Wyn had made a snap decision really, running into the bedroom to grab her ECHO and bringing it into the living room, only to empty out her whole make up collection onto the floor. She didn't really wear make up unless going to something formal, but she had polish up the wazoo. Wyn had smiled at Troy while thrusting stuff at him, and simply said "let's get pretty, okay?"

He had done a great job painting her own toes in pastel colors, then had decided to try his hand at doing something with her incredibly long hair while she sat in the v of his legs to paint his in turn.

Wyn quietly worried to herself that Troy would eventually get frustrated and just tie her hair into a giant knot. Then she'd have to kick his sorry butt all over the house.

A snort from behind pulls her out of her musings and Troy pulls her hair back enough that she's staring at him basically upside down following the movement.

"I'm not gonna fuck up your hair y'know. Anyways, how long until the ship lands in port again?"

"An hour I think? I can't find my E-phone right now so I can't text Maya to ask again. Are you as nervous about this as I am? I mean I've done archery for a long time, but what if I've been doing it wrong? It'll be hard to relearn something like that I think, especially the muscle memory stuff."

"Maybe I should have chosen something different, it's stupid to want to use a weapon where you have to get so close to the opponent." Troy huffs out quietly. He had been second-guessing his decision ever since he made it. "Everybody uses guns, I'd get shot the hell up before even getting a chance to pull out the sword and use it."

"And if you get completely disarmed and only have that to work with, it'll serve you better than taking on an enemy with just your fists. Give it a chance before you write it off, most people won't expect it so it can really throw them for a loop and give you an advantage. But that's just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt." She shrugs her shoulders as she checks his toes once more. Satisfied she pats his leg to let him know she's finished, stretching her arms out in front of her to pop her elbows, the forest green color of her left pinky finger standing out among the black lacquer on the other digits.

Troy ties off the end of the loose braid he had managed with her hair then looks over his feet critically. His happiness and smug satisfaction seem to ooze off of his person, and Wyn knows he's probably sending a big "fuck you" his dad's way, wherever the man may be. Grabbing a basket she had found in one of the closets Wyn starts to clean up everything hoping to find her E-phone underneath the giant mess the living room had become.

Troy gets up and checks on Cy who's sunning herself out on the back porch. Wyn giggles to herself hearing the baby talk wafting into the house. He was utterly enamored by their new "cat" in a way he had only ever seemed to be with Vael.

He comes back into the house minutes later, her shiny purple phone in his hands. Damn, she should've known Cy had snuck off with the thing, their big fur ball baby had a habit of stealing stuff and laying on it to hide the evidence. That spriggen was lucky she was so stinking cute.

Checking the messages an unread one from Maya informs her they had about twenty minutes to get dressed and get to the port to welcome the Masters from Artemis.

"Damn, I was hoping we'd have time to do something else. Well maybe later then." Troy sighs while scratching at his jaw nervously, the periwinkle on his pinky finger clashing almost horribly with his marks and the black of his other nails. It had been his idea however for them to wear each other's colors, and Wyn thought it was adorable and sentimental.

"We aren't picking up Vael from Ingrid until tonight so after we introduce ourselves we can just come back here and hang out some more. Maya said that we wouldn't be getting down to business until tomorrow morning."

He still looks gloomy so she attempts to jab at his weak spot under his ribs. Troy intercepts her hands and pulls her into a bone-crushing hug in retaliation.

Wyn would be upset at getting so light-headed normally but it helped to bring up his mood so she just endured it and tried to breathe. It had nothing to do with her enjoying being held against his chest, or hearing the strong beating of his heart under her ear.

Nothing to do with that at all.

* * *

His eyes are half-lidded and his body feels heavy with exhaustion. It had been a very _long_ month of training with the Masters, and they definitely earned their titles. Slave drivers, the both of them. His body constantly ached and Troy just _knew_ that they'd be getting it worse when they got back. Master Kaiser and Master Anise were _not_ happy that Maya was sending them on a forced weekend getaway to take a break, but since she is their mentor what she says goes.

His muscles cried at the thought of the hell awaiting their return.

Anise was not what he was expecting for a swords master. The woman was barely five feet tall and looked so wispy Troy worried she'd be blown away with a strong gust of wind. He regretted holding back when she had him attack her to get an assessment of his movements. It seemed like he had barely blinked before his face was smashed into the ground below him, the sharp edge of a blade slightly digging into his throat.

His master believed in pain being the best teacher, and Troy had had to work incredibly hard not to end up sliced to ribbons with the sharp projectiles she constantly threw at him. His dodging wasn't up to par supposedly, more likely she was just sadistic.

The first time Troy had managed to avoid getting hit by anything Anise had charged him with her Dadao drawn and swung it at his head. Wyn had been quite unhappy to be called over to the training field Troy and his master were using in order to heal him when he hadn't dodged quickly enough and had nearly lost his other arm. The glare she had sent Anise's way had been tinged with black, a warning growl rumbled out from her throat.

His arm had been saved; Wyn had probably put _too_ much of herself into mending his wound since he didn't even have a scar to show for it, but he wouldn't complain. Seeing her wings emerge with Healing for the first time had left him starstruck. They were large feathered wings of the purest white and dotted with small silver spots all over them. Wyn had said they reminded her of a snowy owl's wings (whatever that was) and he thought she had looked like the depiction of angels from Old stories. If he hadn't already been smitten with her, in that moment he surely would have become so.

A fight between the two women had seemed to be brewing on the horizon, and when both masters had moved to attack Troy reacted on instinct alone. His power surged and seemed to pilot his body for him, moving him to shield Wyn with his person. His own massive wings cocooning them surprised him more than him taking over the Master's minds completely. Anise and Kaiser stood still with their eyes unfocused and their minds compliant. Troy felt like he could mold them like clay, his command to them to disarm themselves was followed through immediately.

It felt weird directing people with authority over him like they were puppets, and Troy dropped his control over them as soon as they had kicked all weapons away from themselves. When he turned his attention back to Wyn to make sure she was unharmed he found her studying his wings with much interest, running a hand lightly over one of them. It sent a pleasant shiver down his spine and a purring noise of some sort slipped out, eliciting a giggle and a small "sorry" from her.

"They look like dragon's wings almost, except the layer of feathers over the webbing. Never seen or heard of that before but...I really like it! They're so soft..."

Troy had attempted to move the wings a little closer to his face to get a better look and had almost stabbed himself in the eye with the claw on his right wing. They were harder to control then they looked, and he wondered how rakks and other flying creatures managed it on a daily basis. Wyn helped by stretching one of his wings out for him, the damn thing about as long as he was tall. It was a glowing blood red, the webbing underneath an inky black, and the smaller feathers brushing along his shoulder blades made him itch a bit.

He desperately hoped they weren't just for decoration. Troy would love nothing more than to be able to fly. He imagined it to be the most freeing feeling in existence, not being tied down to the earth beneath his feet.

After the confrontation it was decided they should resume training together. When both of them had been effectively punished (running back and forth barefoot over burning coals for an hour _sucked_ ) Kaiser had suggested they work on team dynamics and strategy. This had resulted in them running drills with their masters and mentor where a scenario would be given and one of them would take charge over who should go where and do what. Troy was completely in his element during the drills, being able to plan on the fly and come up with creative solutions. He had been designated the team leader by unanimous vote, with Wyn coming in as the heavy hitter when she wasn't sniping.

Experimenting with her Destruction aspect was interesting. Wyn had to keep control of her emotions and consistently focus on not letting it take over. She would still need to work on it, her hesitance to use it setting her back. Troy himself was trying to do the mind takeover thing again but hadn't been able to replicate it.

Still, they were making progress in their training slowly but surely. Which was why Maya forcing them to take a weekend off-world was kind of a bummer. She didn't want them to burn themselves out however so had insisted on it. They couldn't even use Vael as an excuse not to leave since she would personally be taking care of him, something the young boy had seemed quite happy about.

Wyn shifts a bit in his lap, mumbling something unintelligible in her sleep. Troy hoped the sleeping meds would keep her under until they got to Promethea, the last time she had woken half-way through a flight had been crazy and stressful. She had reminded him of a frightened animal and it had been difficult to pull her out from beneath the seats she had been shaking under.

Checking the time on his E-phone he determines they had about another hour before they got there, so he readjusts the travel pillow behind his head and gets as comfortable as he can. Troy planned on sleeping as much as possible since it was unlikely he'd want to take a nap once they got there.

He pulls Wyn closer as he settles in, eyes drooping closed as she tightens her hold on him in turn.

* * *

They found the Foreign Affairs Center right outside of port where they had to submit some paperwork that Maya had filled out for them before leaving Athenas, then had a guide take them to the hotel they'd be staying in for the weekend. He and Wyn had agreed they'd try to find a place selling coffee once they were allowed to wander around freely, both still feeling groggy from the flight; Wyn nearly tripped a few times dragging her feet and rubbing at her eyes while shuffle-walking after their impatient guide. She was in complete zombie-mode right now.

Troy would probably laugh if he had the energy to do so. He couldn't even enjoy the sights surrounding him at the moment keeping all his focus on not falling behind. After an eternity they were checked in and had managed to find their room on the second floor, Troy dropping onto the plush carpet in the middle of the living room area as soon as they had closed the door behind them. Wyn dragged herself off to the shower for a pick-me-up and Troy dozed off for a bit, too comfortable to care that he was stretched out across the floor. He was doing a pretty good starfish impersonation, slowly making a carpet angel underneath him as he enjoyed the tickle of the fabric on his bare arms and calves, having worn cargo shorts and a tank for the trip.

He drifted in and out of a light sleep, hints of a dream tickling the very edges of his mind and his body heavy with relaxation. Troy allowed his aura to naturally spread about the room, saturating it with his signature as a means to easily find it again later in case they got lost in the city somewhere.

The air shifts with the bathroom door opening, Wyn stepping out drying her hair with a towel, a white courtesy robe wrapped around her body. She mumbles to herself as she starts digistructing clothing items out of her ECHO, an upgrade having gone out a few weeks ago that added a closet feature to the storage capabilities. A person could carry their wardrobe with them now without taking up weapon space in the 'Backpack' feature.

Troy somehow finds the strength to get off the floor and into the bathroom for a shower of his own. As the steaming water runs over his face he blindly feels around for the bottle of shampoo Wyn had left in there. Troy had lied when he'd told her he forgot his own, enjoying the scent of her product more. One of the monks made homemade soaps and other toiletries and Wyn had gotten into the grumpy old woman's good graces somehow. He found the bottle and flipped the lid open, inhaling a soothing scent of strawberries and mint.

He promised himself he wasn't going to use the whole bottle up again in one go, having felt really bad about doing so the last time he had used Wyn's stuff, and turning a quick wash into a two hour long shower while he tried out every product she had left in there.

Wyn had been understandably pissed off but had just rolled her eyes and huffed out a long breath at him. After spending a lifetime of not having running water to bathe in, or actual soap that smelled good, Troy often got...carried away while bathing.

He heard the bathroom door open and close again. Peeking through the shower curtain he saw his toothbrush and toothpaste had been set on the sink along with some of his other things and his ECHO. Troy finished rubbing some herbal smelling soap onto his body and rinsed off quickly, hopping out just as the water started to turn chilly. Tying a towel around his waist he pulls open the bathroom door to ask Wyn a question, and feels it die on his tongue as his jaw drops and his brain halts all thought.

Troy hadn't ever seen her so dressed up before. Her long curls were pulled back in a high ponytail tied in place with a thick azure ribbon, and her bangs had been brushed out of her eyes, the ends kissing against her bare shoulders. She was wearing a sleeveless sundress, the upper part of it a dark blue that faded into a much lighter blue the further down it went, the hem of the dress ending mid-thigh and brushed invitingly against her legs as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Delicate looking ballet flats lined with rhinestones had been slipped onto her small feet and were the same color as the ribbon in her hair. The crystal necklace he'd given her sat in the dip between her clavicles to finish off the outfit.

He was distracted by her running her hands over the dress trying to straighten it out and flatten any creases or wrinkles it may have. Troy would have thought she was teasing him if he wasn't so confident that Wyn had no interest in him beyond friendship, and if she was even aware he was staring at her so intently. She finally looked up from checking herself over and made a small squeaking noise when their eyes met. Wyn fisted the skirt of her dress nervously as she looked away from him then brought her arms up to hug herself.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing, it's just...why are you getting all dressed up?" Troy wondered if he'd missed out on a discussion about dressing a certain way while on Promethea. He didn't _think_ there was a dress code, but then again what did he know about other planets and their customs. Something he should have probably looked into before getting here now that he thought about it.

"O-oh, um...I uh, just wanted to try something different is all. Why? Do, uh, do I look _that_ bad?!"

Watching her deflate and hug herself more tightly just made him feel like he was the shittiest person to exist. Troy shook his head vigorously and only just managed to stammer out a compliment before slamming the bathroom door closed once again and slapping himself in the face for his idiocy. Grabbing his ECHO he looks through his closet deciding he'd dress up a bit too, hoping it'd help her to feel less self conscious. Besides, it'd probably be fun, they had both sort of adopted wearing clothing similar to the robes the monks wore on Athenas as to not stand out as much.

When he finished getting dressed and running a comb through his hair Troy gave his reflection one last look over, satisfied with the man staring back at him. Comfortable black jeans that were slightly faded, a black tank top under a slate-grey button up that he'd done up only half way, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows leaving his arms bare and the color making his burgundy marks pop. He sat on the edge of the tub and finished tying the laces on his dark red Converse shoes. His locket sat proudly in the middle of his chest and Troy couldn't help running a thumb over it lovingly, his musings over his family being interrupted by the light knocking on the door.

Right, they were gonna look for a coffee shop of some sort, a city like this _had_ to have one, especially because coffee was one of the planet's main exports.

Wyn had given him an appreciative once over while they left the hotel, losing the tension in her body and gaining a bit of a spring in her step. Being told he cleaned up nicely had Troy snorting in amusement and bolstered his mood. They were following a map Wyn had pulled up on her E-phone to an area called the Meridian Metroplex attempting to locate a place called Rise & Grind when the souvenir stand caught his eye. More specifically, the large selection of key chains caught his eye and Troy gravitated towards them tuning out whatever Wyn had been saying to him. There were so many to choose from he didn't know which one to get or if he should splurge his savings and get all of them.

"Troy what're you...oh geez go figure." Wyn sounded exasperated with him even though she had a large smile on her face. "Just get one for now, you promised me coffee. We'll swing by again later for more, yeah?"

He nodded absentmindedly as he ran a finger over a trinket with the word ATLAS stamped on it. There was no way he was getting something that advertised for one of the corporations, they didn't need the free publicity. A few minutes of browsing the wares and he found a small chain that had two red glow sticks hanging from it. It was pretty cheap, the stall owner informed him the other colors had sold out and the red was the last of the stock. He transferred over some credits and attached the chain to one of the belt loops on his jeans, the glow sticks hanging next to his right pocket at his hip.

Wyn had found a couple of thin silver bangles that she slipped onto her right wrist. They made a small chiming noise when she moved her arm that reminded him of tiny bells, adding to her overall look of appearing delicate.

A vice-like grip wound around his elbow and Troy was getting dragged down the street before he could blink, the neon of the Rise & Grind sign approaching quickly. A low growl and threats of being thrown over her shoulder from Wyn had him picking up his pace aware that she was running out of patience. A quick peek in her head made his own hurt with the intensity of her migraine and Troy understood that the lack of caffeine had brought it on.

Thankfully there wasn't much of a line, only two other people waiting to place an order. While Troy looked over the menu Wyn rubbed at her forehead and let out a soft sigh. The man standing in front of them looked back over his shoulder with a quick glance then did a double take and locked his gaze onto Wyn. The guy was probably around 5'10" and had thick chocolate colored hair that was slicked back, a cybernetic eye and red prosthetic arm. His facial features gave the impression that he was on the younger side, his expensive looking clothes made Troy think they were dealing with some rich kid. Who was currently staring at Wyn like he was seeing for the first time in his life.

An ugly feeling stirred in Troy's gut when Wyn broke out in a blush and gave the man a shy smile. The fancy rich boy coughed into a fist and stumbled over his words as he introduced himself. Ugh, even his name sounded snobby. Rhys was such a douchbag name.

His irritation continued to grow and fester as the two in front of him kept up their conversation, ignoring everything else around them. Troy cleared his throat loudly when it was Rhys's turn to step up to the counter, leveling the man with a grumpy glare.

"Oh I'm sorry how terribly rude of me, are you her boyfriend?"

"No he's not, I'm not seeing anybody right now." Wyn answered before Troy had a chance to open his mouth. While it was true, Troy couldn't help the feeling of hurt that stabbed his chest at her casual answer to the question. A look of relief passed over that face that Troy felt more and more like punching. He did his best to keep his face blank while Rhys offered to pay for their coffee, and while he led them over to a deserted table, and even kept it up while being essentially forgotten about as the douchy rich guy hit on his best friend who seemed oblivious to everything but the kid in front of them. Or man, apparently his boyish face made him look younger than the thirty-one years he actually was.

Sipping at his coffee and wishing he was anywhere else in the world right then Troy tuned out the awkward flirting between the two fucktards in front of him until the word "date" caught his attention. Wyn's face and ears were very red as she stuttered trying to give voice to whatever was on her mind.

"We'd looooove to join you at a bar later, you're paying right?" He asked Rhys with a smirk on his face. The man looked flabbergasted but nodded and told them he'd meet them at the hotel's bar later that evening before leaving them with a quick wave of his hand. Turning back to Wyn he goes to berate her but stops himself because of the lost look on her face.

"Can we go? We were gonna look around the city right?" He realizes he doesn't have a reason to be short with her but he can't help feeling snappish. Wyn seems to be in a daze as she follows after him, holding her cooling coffee like it would anchor her to reality. Troy was beginning to regret ignoring most of the conversation that had happened between Rhys and Wyn, something the man had said to her had thrown her for a loop.

Eventually she snapped out of her funk and they were able to enjoy the afternoon exploring. Troy had never imagined buildings so large before, the skyscrapers seeming to reach longingly towards the sky looking to embrace the sun. And it was so _bright_ , neon signs and billboards advertising everything from gun manufacturers to burger joints and even perfume. He was elated at the numerous droids zipping around the bustling crowds cleaning the streets, directing traffic, even a few that danced around holding signs with shop names on them. They had stopped at a noodle stall and grabbed noodles in a cup before finding a music store. Wyn had slurped down her noodles and broth so quickly Troy worried she'd choke. He blinked twice and then she was gone, her empty cup in a trash can outside the store. Choking down his spicy noodles Troy darts in after her only to find her near the back running a hand over a large black instrument he'd never seen but had heard of. As she sat on the bench in front of it and tested out a couple of the ivory keys, a sad smile found its way onto her face.

The emotions hit him hard and suddenly when she began to play a powerful peace that made him think of running into hard times, and eventually overcoming them. Troy felt a few tears escape the corners of his eyes to match the ones falling from Wyn's own as she poured her everything into the music. He knew that he was seeing her, the _real her_ finally as she passionately lost herself and pulled everyone else into orbit as she did so.

There was such a profound stillness in the air when she finished playing the piece, it seemed like the person who broke it first would be committing the most vile of sins, the very universe holding its breath in those precious moments before she removed herself from the piano and slipped out of the shop, breaking the spell she had placed over it. Excited chatter picked up behind him as he followed her out, Wyn wiping her eyes clear and doing her best to compose herself back to her usual bubbly personality.

Standing behind her Troy lightly wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on the top of her head giving her silent support.

As the sky begins to darken they work their way back to the hotel, Troy following the signature his aura had left behind easily. They ordered something simple from room service and once they had finished their dinner the two found the bar. Looking around for Rhys he was nowhere to be seen yet, and when Wyn asked the bartender if she'd seen the man, the woman informed them that something had come up and Rhys couldn't make it, but had opened a tab for them to be added to as an apology.

Troy tried not to appear too pleased but knew he was failing horribly when he couldn't drop his large grin. Wyn frowned at him but sat down at an empty table near the billiards.

"What's your problem with Rhys?"

"Problem? Who says I have a problem, I hardly know the guy." His deflection only makes her frown harder at him.

"He's been nothing but nice, yet you act weird when his name is brought up. So what's wrong?"

Wyn continues to pester him, going from irritated to downright angry as he keeps avoiding answering her question, quite sure she wouldn't appreciate how possessive he would sound if he told her he saw Rhys as a threat for her affection. Finally he threw out the first thing that came to mind hoping it would allow the subject to be dropped once and for all.

"Look I hate his stupid face, okay? There are you happy now, can we just drop it and get plastered?!"

The confusion clouding her expression is too adorable, and Troy resists the urge to boop her on the nose even though he's sure he could get her to squeak if he did.

"His face...that's what bothers you about him? Is it because he looks younger than his actual age?" Troy just nods and rolls his eyes. Thankfully Wyn drops it and throws back a shot of whiskey impressing him when she doesn't flinch in the slightest with the burn. They had ordered a bottle to share, and Wyn suggested they play some drinking games to pass the time. She teaches him a game called Buzz which is some sort of number game where you can only say certain numbers and have to leave other numbers out. You take a shot if you say any of the numbers you're supposed to leave out since you have to replace the number with the word Buzz. They then move on to some kind of rhythm game where messing up the rhythm chain means you have to take a shot.

When they finish the whiskey a bottle of some strong moonshine is brought over. As she pours out a shot for each of them Wyn asks him if he wants to play Dares.

"Ah lassie, ye don expect to play Dares with just the two of ya do you?" An older gentlemen strides confidently up to their table, the strong smell of alcohol on him the only true indicator of how drunk he actually was. He pulls a chair over from another table and helps himself to one of the shots, smacking his lips and humming as the liquid slides down his throat. "Sorry to just barge in on ya unannounced. The name is Zane Flynt, Operative extraordinaire, and deemed the sexiest man alive in all the Six Galaxies. Would a beauty such as yourself indulge me in a friendly game with you and the boyo?"

Zane had asked his question while brushing his lips over Wyn's knuckles having lightly grabbed one of her hands. That ugly feeling from before was back in a heartbeat, less hindered than before with the alcohol in his system making Troy's head somewhat fuzzy. Wyn carefully extracted her hand and shrugged. It was simple, they would each be given a dare, and if they refused to do the dare they had to take a penalty shot. If they half-assed the dare they had to take a shot as well, and Zane upped the anti by having the bartender bring over a drink that made the small hairs in Troy's nose burn with the chemical smell of it.

The more drunk each of them got, the wilder the challenges got. The game evolved from trying to arm wrestle a bulky looking man to dancing on the bar top and singing romantic ballads to strangers who looked scared of the whole ordeal. Zane chuckled to himself as he looked at Wyn and threw another challenge her way.

"Right-o, I dare ya to kiss yer friend here, and make it a good one! Not one of them sissy pecks on the cheek, that's for birds. BIRDS GAAH I HATE THEM!!" Zane began a rant to himself about the horror of feathered beasts while Wyn and Troy continued the game.

Troy poured a shot and pushed it towards Wyn expecting her to take a pass on the dare. He was utterly blindsided when she ended up straddling his lap and pressing her lips to his. His eyes closed on their own and he tilted his head more to deepen the kiss. What felt like a spark of electricity surged through his body rapidly, a trail of fire following in its wake and warming him from the inside out. He couldn't help the small gasp that escaped from him when she ran her tongue over his bottom lip, Wyn taking advantage of his mouth opening slightly to slip inside and explore every inch of it.

Troy was light-headed and numb when she finally pulled away for proper air, both of them panting slightly and smothering one another with the intense heat that pooled in their eyes.

"Oh ho! Well now, that was a decent lobbing of the gob wasn't it? Would you do the same for me if I dared ya too I wonder?"

Something feral springs to life within him, wanting to tear into the other man before him savagely. Troy was done with others hovering around Wyn panting after her like skags in heat. Standing suddenly he grabs Wyn's hand and leaves the bar, stumbling slightly here and there while getting to the elevators as quickly as possible. True they only had to go up two floors but he wasn't in the mood to try and deal with stairs at the moment. Running his thumb over the print scanner registered to their room Troy is through the door and pulling Wyn in afterwards before she can get a word out asking what was going on.

As soon as the door clicks back into its locked position Troy has Wyn pinned up against it, his lips pressed once more against her own. She is unresponsive at first due to her shock, but as he goes to pull away from her worried he'd just made a big mistake she's grabbing his shirt pulling him even closer. Their tongues once again meet for a dance as he runs his hand up and down her body leaving goosebumps in its wake.

Breaking away from the heated kiss he looks at her and she nods an affirmative to the question in his eyes. Troy scoops Wyn up and throws her over a shoulder then stalks with his prize to the king-sized bed awaiting them in the bedroom.

He wasn't going to wait around any longer. Troy was going to throw aside his inhibitions and stake his claim on _his_ woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the link for Ch. 18.5! A gift by the ever wonderful Mauserfrau ❤
> 
> ...Stays on Promethea
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26327677?view_adult=true


	19. The aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where two idiots realize that they feel the same about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear writer's block, 
> 
> You are a jerk. Do me a favor and get bent. No, really, fuck you. 
> 
> \------
> 
> Anywho, this chapter means the rating goes up. Because now I write smut I guess. Sorry if it's too explicit, or not explicit enough.

She awoke to the feeling of fingers lightly tracing her spine, butterfly kisses following in their wake. Wyn made a sound that was a mix of pleased hum and irritated groan. Troy had kept her up until the very early hours of the morning, and if she had to guess she'd only gotten a few hours of sleep if that. Still, the brush of his skin rubbing against her own as he stretched flush to her back sent shivers skittering over her body and caused a clenching deep inside. 

"Stooooop…no more…" Wyn groaned out, attempting to burrow herself further under the pillows and blankets as a means of escape. To no avail apparently, Troy tugged her out of hiding with a chuckle. Her protests died on her lips as he pressed a kiss on that spot of her neck he'd bitten the night before, one she'd paid him back for with a deep bite of her own on his left pectoral, right above his heart. It had been an in-the-moment thing, not caring at the time if it had hurt him. 

With that thought in mind Wyn turns over until she's facing him, worried over the wound she'd left him. A glowing hand is raised and prepared for reversing any damage, but it dies down with her shock. A ring of teeth marks were etched onto his skin, shiny and silver just like her Siren marks. Running her fingers lightly over them she feels that they are slightly raised and completely healed, like a scar. Wyn also experiences the queerest sensation of pleasure throughout her being the more she plays with the mark. 

"What is this?" She murmurs, more to herself than him, though he answers just the same. 

"I'm not sure, but you have the same thing, right there." Troy points at her clavicle on the right side where he had bitten her first, and craning her head Wyn can just barely make out a blood red color on her body. Touching them results in a jolt from her and shudder from Troy, his gaze going hungry and hooded. 

He's moving in the next moment, pulling her against him for a molten kiss, rubbing against her and purring in low decibels. Wyn gets no chance to protest, too dizzy and caught up in the surge of primal _want_ for words to form. She's moaning into him before too long, her lust hazing over her mind and taking control. 

It comes as a small shock to her system when Troy breaks out of the kiss to whisper against her mouth. “I didn’t mean to.” He sounds hesitant and small despite his weight against her, the desire in his eyes, slickness of his cock pressed up against Wyn’s bare thigh.

She finds herself staring at him, so much as she can focus given how close he is. He seems clear though. His breath brushes up so warm against her cheeks. “I think you did,” she says. Her own voice comes out all honest and needy, with a slight whine to it. She threads her hands together behind his neck. “I know you did. Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not teasing you. This is… this is weird.” He is insistent on the matter, his hand coming up to cover the mark on Wyn’s neck.

And she loves it. That touch should be so innocent, but it plucks a thread of pleasure that runs through her whole body. “I don’t care if it’s weird. Ah!” She twists beneath him, breath coming in gasps. She aches--her breasts and the center of her body, even her new mark. Wyn's mind sits somewhere on the edge of her senses, telling her to just listen to him. She ignores it. 

Troy kisses her again, much softer on her cheek, and then hungry on the red of her neck as he slides his fingers into her.

She should be sore from all the times they’ve coupled. Instead she runs hungry and hot, moaning as she rolls her hips. 

Troy groans as he says, “I fucking love it. Those little noises you make when you want it. Can you even hear yourself?”

“I’m not paying attention right now. Just do it, please! Talk later, fuck me now!"

He chuckles at that, pulling his fingers out of her heat to taste her nectar. It was sweet on his taste buds and gave Troy a heady rush. He pushed inside of her without any more delay, panting with the effort it cost him to not slam into her uncontrollably like he had several times the night before. Still, it was fast and hard, an animalistic rutting more than anything. Troy tweaked a rosy nipple, and was encouraged to do so again and again as it made that soft velvet wrapped around him clench in the most delicious way every time he did. 

Wyn forgot how to speak through the intensity of her pleasure. Troy hit all the right places, winding that coil up inside of her tighter and tighter. His movements only stutter when Troy grabs one of her legs and throws it over a shoulder so he can hit her that much deeper. She shudders out a breathy moan and finds herself gripping the sheets beneath her tight enough to start ripping them. Troy locks eyes with her, looking feral with fully dilated pupils and his teeth bared as he breathes heavily. It strikes a cord within her very soul, pleasing something dark, hidden away. 

Wyn screeches when she hits her climax, with a loud drawn out yowling that makes the tiny hairs on her body stand on end. Her nails dig into his shoulders and bite deep, and Troy pays her back with latching onto his mark once again. He rumbles out a pleased purr when he reaches his own release, then laps up the beads of blood he inflicted upon her with his teeth. 

Coming down from the high hits Wyn hard. What the hell were they doing?! _Why_ were they doing this?! It was wrong, wasn't it? Doesn't adding sex to the equation ruin friendships? 

She knew better, she had sobered up fairly quickly once they had gotten into it the night before. And yet she had just kept going, losing herself in the fog of want and _need_ that Troy drug out of her. Wyn couldn't remember most of the night, only snippets here and there. She felt truly sorry for whomever had to clean the room, well aware body fluids were all over the place. They hadn't kept their activities to only the bed after all. A thought that had her covering her face in embarrassment. 

"Don't worry," Troy chuckled, "they have droids to clean the rooms."

"Oh thank god! It would be mortifying if a person had to clean up this mess. Speaking of which, get off, I need a shower."

"Mmm, shower sounds nice…"

"You're insatiable!"

"Sorry?"

"No you're not!"

Troy's deep belly laugh makes her heart flutter all stupid as she shoves him off and sits up stiffly. Wyn searches for her phone, hoping it didn't get lost in the drunken stupor last night. She finds it glinting at her under the corner of the bed, and used it to pull some blue syringe out of her digistorage. 

"What's that stuff? It looks like a health hypo?"

"It's basically a morning after shot." She replies while sticking herself with it. She can't help the nasty grimace that crosses her face. Wyn had always hated needles, but this was a necessary evil. She missed the dissatisfied look that appears briefly on Troy's face, too busy whining to herself about the sting of the injection. 

"Right…I'm gonna get the shower started, alright?" He's up and already in the bathroom before she can answer. The atmosphere has gotten awkward again, and Wyn just wants to sit and cry. Stupid, stupid woman that she is! 

But she shoves all of that aside and joins Troy in the shower. They're quiet as they go through the motions of cleaning themselves, lost in their own thoughts, and both wondering the same thing. 

What now?

* * *

What now was room service delivering a large breakfast with _lots_ of coffee, and them trying to figure out how to start the conversation. He wasn't looking forward to it, almost certain he'd hate to hear what she had to say on the matter. This wasn't supposed to happen, he's aware it wasn't supposed to be with him. 

Yet it did, and she allowed it. Troy knew he'd probably only ever have that one night with her. 

And he could hardly remember it. It left a sour taste in his mouth that all this primal lust had come out of nowhere and taken him over completely, and the fog of it clouded his memories of being one with her. Troy was grateful that he at least remembered their first coupling well enough. He almost told her he loved her then, but felt that it would cheapen the confession if it happened during sex. 

He wanted so badly to tell her, but was tongue-tied and couldn't say the words. His fear of rejection was the strongest it had ever been. Troy didn't think he would be able to handle the heartbreak. 

"Look…last night was…crazy…" Wyn began nervously, clenching the coffee mug in her hand like a life line. Oh god, here it goes. 

Troy just nodded, staring at his plate of waffles, tense and nauseous. Wyn looked at him for minutes, giving him a chance to speak. But when Troy refused to open his mouth she kept the conversation going. 

"I just…well…where do we go from here? Friends aren't normally so intimate with each other, are they?"

"I couldn't tell you, since you were my first real friend." He replied, trying not to sound bitter. She looks lost, but he gets it. Wyn hadn't had real friends either, until him. 

"So…are we still friends? Or…?"

"Y'know what? No, we aren't friends anymore. Because I don't want to just be a friend, even your best friend."

The tears in her eyes punch him in the gut, and Troy is holding her hands firmly before he's aware of it. Now or never, there cannot be any misunderstandings. 

"I love you Wynter. I think I have for quite some time. I don't just want to be your friend, I want to be your partner. I want you to be the person I come home to every night, and think about every day. I want us to be a family, you, me and Vael. But it isn't just about me. What do you want? Is it…is it me maybe? Or…um, well…am I not what you're looking for?"

Wyn sits there utterly stunned. He can feel her mind reeling, his declaration completely unexpected. He felt her fear over it all being a pretty lie. And felt her assuredness that it wasn't. 

The sudden sobbing isn't unexpected. He got it, really he did. For the first time in her life, Wyn had somebody who genuinely loved her, for _her,_ and not some ulterior motive. He wanted _her_ exactly as she is, and it was too much for her to handle. Troy kept a hold of Wyn's hands and let her cry, knowing this was the first time she was letting all the hurt out. 

Even if she didn't love him back, he could be happy if she at least accepts his feelings. When she sobs out that she loves him too, well, it fills him with giddy excitement. 

"R-really?! You're not just saying that?"

"Shut up ass, of course I mean it!"

She looks so cute to him, rubbing at her face to wipe away the tears and hide her embarrassment. Troy just wanted to hold her forever and never let go. And now he could! Maybe. 

"So like, what does that mean for us?"

"We're in a relationship I guess? Official? I don't know, calling you my boyfriend sounds both right and wrong."

He frowns at that, unhappy with the insinuation. "Wrong? Why is it wrong?"

"It doesn't feel like…like it's enough? Like you mean more than just a boyfriend? It isn't a good enough title, but I don't know what would be more. Partner? It's basically the same thing. Whatever, we're official and you are my…hmm…ugh my person...WHY DO WE NEED LABELS?!"

"We don't, really I could care less about labels. Just as long as this isn't some fucking joke I'm happy."

"Agreed." Wyn huffs out then downs the last dregs of her coffee after retrieving her hands. Troy misses the feel of them, but figures finishing his breakfast would be the better option than whining about not holding hands. He didn't want to rush anything and ruin this after all. He would not let himself ruin this like everything else. 

"So Maya sent over some data that we're supposed to take to the CEO of ATLAS, I guess it's the updated trade agreement for this year. We should probably do that sooner than later, but what do you wanna do afterwards?"

He stares at her wide-eyed, then blushes and looks back at his plate. Troy can practically hear Wyn roll her eyes at him, but she giggles so he figures she isn't mad about it. 

"Eh, we should probably visit some pharmacy or something first then."

"Why? Do you need medicine?"

"Suppressants, Troy. We should stock up on suppressants. I only had the one shot, and it only covers two hours. The suppressants are cheaper, and don't hurt as badly."

Right, that made sense. An unplanned pregnancy was a bad idea after all. He agreed with her, even if something twisted inside of him almost angrily. It left Troy confused, he really didn't want to add a baby to the mix right now. Yet that part inside protested persistently. 

"I mean, Vael isn't even a year old yet. I'm not interested in going through another pregnancy while he's so young."

It settles in his gut, and Troy gets the feeling whatever internal battle is going on has been swayed by her logic. A noncommittal hum is his reply, his mouth full of strawberries and waffle chunks. She gives him a slightly disgusted look for shoving so much in there his cheeks puffed out. 

Not his fault this was tasty shit! Troy wondered if he could get away with shoving some waffles into his pockets for later. Probably not, but that won't stop him from trying. He'd be without syrup, but there were worse things in life. 

Like _not_ having pocket waffles for a snack later. 

"I don't know what's running through that head of yours, but I don't think I wanna know…"

A smirk and a thumbs up has Wyn pushing away from the table and going back into the bedroom to put on some clothes. He admires her curves as she walks away, and nearly abandons breakfast to follow. The glare she shoots him over her shoulder makes him change his mind, and Troy totally doesn't pout as he finishes swiping his fingers through the stickiness still on the plate. 

He'll do his best to behave then. Maybe he'll get rewarded for it later.

* * *

ATLAS HQ was the tallest skyscraper on all of Promethea, sitting and glimmering above all others, as if to flaunt its superiority. 

She hated it immediately. Not only was it too large and flashy, most likely a reflection of the CEO's ego, it was really _really_ high up. 

Wyn hated heights. Absolutely despised them with every fiber of her being. It's why she hated flying in anything. The thought of falling so far and hitting the ground so hard, then dying from it, gave her constant nightmares. She did her best to put on a brave face, but she could hear Troy's metal arm creaking from how tightly she clung to it. He was being a gem of a person, holding her to his chest in the elevator and keeping her to the very middle of the building, the best he could anyways, when he noticed how nervous she was around the windows. 

Stupid building. Stupid CEO with his stupid office at the tippy top of the building. It's like he was asking for death. What if there was an earthquake?! What if he tripped and fell against one of the windows?! What if he sneezed too hard?! 

Troy snorted as her mind went to absurd extremes, but didn't outright laugh at her. He agreed that he hated it here though, and was looking forward to being done with this meeting. 

They were buzzed in fairly quickly, being introduced as diplomats of Athenas, something that was news to them. It made sense though, why Maya was insistent they take a weekend break here. Wyn admired how ballsy and sneaky their mentor was, and try as she might she couldn't be too upset. 

Wyn was totally blown away at who was seated before them. She heard Troy growl out "You're fucking kidding me…" and pinched his ribs as a silent warning. But of course the CEO of ATLAS was the man, Rhys, from yesterday. He looked so small, so _young_ seated in that high-back chair, stacks of paper as tall as her scattered all over the desk. He had his flesh hand tangled up in his hair, and was writing furiously with the other hand. 

He was utterly frazzled. It was kind of cute actually. Troy must have heard the thought skim across her mind because he was growling lowly, and loud enough to grab Rhys's attention. His amber-colored eyes took in the sight of them, and he sat up straighter upon noticing Wyn. 

Uh-oh. 

"Oh heeeey would you look at that Babe! The guy who ditched us last night is here! Hey you, where's your boss?"

"Troy…"

Rhys looks utterly baffled already, and Troy was just getting started. "I beg your pardon?" Stumbled from his lips while he tried not to twitch. A mask of someone who is cocky and confident falls over his face, and just as quickly disappears as Troy keeps going. 

"Your boss, the CEO of this company? Ring any bells there? You're sitting in his chair there. So be a good little secretary and go fetch him for us, we don't have all day."

"Troy."

"I am not the secretary!"

"Then what are you? What in the world would _you_ be doing in the CEO's chair?! Unless…you're his plaything…?"

"Troy!"

Rhys is red faced and sputtering angrily at this point, only made worse by Troy smirking and scratching his chin in a bored manner. "Who the hell are you exactly, what business could a scruffy lowlife like _you_ have at an enterprise such as this one?! Can you even afford to pay the cleaning that it'll cost to scrub your stench out of the building?!"

"What?! Hang on, that was uncalled for!"

"Well you see, _I_ happen to be a chosen diplomat for Lady Maya of Athenas. Our mentor thought we should experience things like the trade negotiations and signings for ourselves, since she's training us to take over for her."

Rhys both deflated and went pale at that, frantically throwing papers aside as he looked for something specific. And curses hard when holding up familiar paperwork to read over quickly. 

Ah, that's what they turned in at the Foreign Affairs Center near port. Wyn had been curious, but too tired and drugged out to read it over. Troy crosses his arms across his chest while standing at full height, imposing and menacing all at once. The posturing was getting out of hand, really. Wyn wasn't too sure she was pleased with him antagonizing someone important over petty jealousy. 

"Um, yes…so you are. D-do you have the finalized trade agreement with you?"

"Yes I do." Wyn says while stepping forward. Rhys relaxes in his seat a bit and gives her a sweet smile while downloading the documentation onto his E-phone. He breaks out into a sweaty mess with Troy leaning over him, glaring and huffing hot breath onto his neck. It was so childish; Wyn attempted to be subtle while finding random things to throw at her annoying person, beyond embarrassed with his attitude. 

A sharp jab to the ribs with her elbow gets her point across and had Troy stumbling away with a groan. He rubs his ribs and looks at her like she betrayed him. Wyn pays him back flooding the forefront of her mind with memories of masturbating. It garners the intended result; Troy quickly walks away from the other two and finds a seat in the waiting area right outside the office, face and ears a dark red. 

Hmph…serves him right. Naughty boy he is, if Troy would just behave she wouldn't have to fight dirty like that. 

Wyn and Rhys finish up their business and begin a quiet conversation, picking up from the day before. He can tell she's a bit miffed with him, and apologizes for any misunderstanding. 

"Look it's fine that you didn't disclose who you are. I'm irritated that you're a grown ass man picking a fight with a man-child, instead of being professional. I'll deal with his dumb butt later, but you? Grow up."

"Y-yeah, sorry."

"Where's your confidence? You're in charge aren't you? So why don't you act like it?!"

"W-well…it's difficult to get other people to take me seriously!"

"Hmm…" Wyn walks a slow circle around Rhys after making him stand. Noticing how he slouches in on himself, she makes him stand straight, shoulders relaxed and slightly back. She touches his jaw and turns his face side to side, seeing what Troy meant about him appearing too young. Perhaps he was having issues because of it. 

"Do you shave?"

"What? Yes, of course! I must look presentable at al--"

"Stop doing it then."

"W-what? But why?"

She shakes her head and sighs. Really, must he question everything? "Listen up Buttercup--"

"Buttercup?!"

Wyn ignores the interruption the best she can, though the nerve twitching in her cheek betrays her growing ire. "You look and act far too young. How many of the people staffed here have been around longer than you've been alive? Do you think they would accept some young upstart who just helps himself to their company so easily? You act meek, scared, and your youthful appearance just adds on to the mistrust. Grow a backbone will you? And maybe a mustache, I think you could pull it off quite nicely."

"Oh? Well…you're right…" Rhys slumps in on himself once again, defeat plainly shown in his face and posture. "I just wanted to make ALTAS better, redeem it from its bad reputation. Expand on all the ideas I have to make things better for everyone. But I get so much flack and push back that I feel stuck."

"Can't let yourself keep that mindset Buttercup, it's toxic as hell."

He's wide eyed when he asks her, "Why Buttercup?! Isn't that some flower?!"

Oh yeah, she forgot that fact. Wyn snorts and throws a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the laughter that tickles her throat and belly. 

"Um, actually I was thinking more about the candy, because your name is Rhys." He stared at her confused. "Y'know, Reese's? Never mind, another thing I know that no one else seems to. Sure, the flower then. Because you're acting like a delicate flower."

"...I'm not a delicate flower…" He mumbles to himself as he retakes his seat and waves her out of his office. Wyn gives him a sweet smile as she leaves, turning it mischievous when she approaches Troy who was standing in the doorway. 

"Where to now? What should we do?"

"Can we just go back to the hotel for a while?"

"Yeah, no. You're already getting cut off, your behavior was atrocious. Maybe later if you can stop being a jealous asshole."

"Ah dammit!"


	20. Operation: Operative!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promethea=shenanigans, especially when you throw in Zane Flynt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I've been gone so long, life was...well life. But here's hoping that my slumps are over and I can continue this story without other issues!

After a trip to the pharmacy to pick up a few things they were back in their room, Wyn helping him remove the whole prosthetic in order to check the skin beneath. He had to do this at least once a month to clean and treat his scarred flesh and the prosthetic itself, but it was a pain in the ass to deal with. 

Wyn is silent as she hands over the specialty cream he made, preoccupied with remembering his instructions for making more of it. It was something he had memorized from the notes on Nekrotafeyo, his mother meticulous with writing down everything she did for treating him and his various…difficulties. The cream had a heavy herbal smell that made his eyes water and itch, however, the stuff worked really well so he no longer complained. 

As he carefully massaged it in, Troy noticed a glance from Wyn, saw the curiosity in her eyes as she briefed an eyeful of his scarred skin, then returned to grounding some plant matter into paste. She was obviously curious, but didn't feel comfortable enough to bring it up. 

"Just ask." Troy tells her softly. Wyn startles in her seat, looking ashamed at being caught having looked him over. She tilts her head down, her hair covering her face; the only reason he knows she's blushing in embarrassment is that the tips of her ears are bright red, and Troy doubts it's due to a sudden fever. 

"I'm sorry, I know it's rude to stare…I guess I'm just curious as to how long ago you had the amputation? The scars are in really good condition, so I can't tell how old they are, though the white coloring has me assuming at least a few years. Also you adapted really well, and quickly, to the prosthetic which has me thinking that you were already used to having another arm at some point. So, I'm guessing within the last five years?"

Troy chuckled and shook his head. While her logic made perfect sense, he couldn't wait to burst her bubble. Wyn always had the most adorable expressions after all. 

"Nope. The amputation happened when I was about an hour old."

"What?! No way, what happened?! Oh god, sorry that was super insensitive! Don't worry you don't need to tell me."

Troy waved his hand in a devil-may-care sort of attitude, already deciding to tell her everything. He trusted Wyn implicitly, and he wanted to tell _someone_ who was outside of the equation about his life before Pandora. He needed someone to confide in. 

"So…I had a twin sister. We were born sort of conjoined, she had apparently tried to absorb me in utero. When we were born, I guess I was really sick, and my parents didn't think I'd survive. So to give my sister the best chance, my father cut me off of her."

"Oh damn, that could have gone very poorly if he was incompetent."

"He _is_ incompetent, it's just that when mom got pregnant with us he hounded her med bot to train him as much as possible in case something went wrong. He listened, he learned to use the medical equipment on hand and perform certain procedures, got as prepared as possible. And luckily he did, because he had to cut us out of her. And then do work on me. It was fortunate that mom's ship had top of the line equipment, so the laser cutter he used on me cauterized as it cut. And because my twin had only consumed up to just over my elbow, he had more room to work with and didn't have to cut out any of my collarbone."

"So you've never had a right arm then…"

"I mean, I kinda tinkered around with the help of my father's robots and built arms over time, but they never lasted very long nor were they very good, being mostly made from scrap metal. Honestly if it wasn't for how advanced this one is, I'd still probably be getting used to it. How did Ellie make it anyways?"

He runs his fingers over the prosthetic, curious at the small whirring noises he'd hear from the two pieces occasionally. 

"I'm not exactly sure to be honest, Ellie is keeping that information close to chest. I do know that the materials used for it are really rare, and that several mega corporation strongholds were personally raided by Lilith to get them. The most interesting part is the part I helped with, which is installing the nanites. They formed into tiny gears, and since my hands are smaller she asked me to put them in where she instructed. They will do self repair to the prosthetic as needed, but you still need her to check it at least once a year."

"Nanite technology? Hmm…so she must have raided ATLAS then…"

"The old ATLAS, at some point Lilith and her team were fighting with them. Rhys is a recent takeover, it's possible to get everything checked by him too, but that's disrespectful to Ellie."

He nods at that, not really trusting of the man in question anyways to go to him over the woman who put her blood, sweat, and tears into making him something so unique and special. Troy didn't even need to have anything installed into his body to use the arm effectively, which he was eternally grateful for. The scars he already had were enough. 

"So then, was your mom okay after the c-section? I've heard those can be really hard on a woman, and take a long time to recover from."

Troy stiffens on instinct, as he does whenever she's brought up, yet forces himself to relax. It was a simple question, and really wasn't invasive. 

"She recovered quickly. Her health didn't really start to improve until mine did I've been told. Mom sat up for days just holding me, waiting for me to die. But I didn't…have no idea why not, everything pointed to me passing on…"

Wyn strokes the side of his face, then cups his chin and turns him to face her. She gives him a sweet kiss and lightly rubs her thumb over the apple of his cheek. 

"Because you're a fighter and a survivor. Apparently you always have been."

"Hmm…if you say so."

"So…will I ever get to meet her?"

"No, she's…gone…happened the day after my sixth birthday."

Looking up from his lap he sees how sad and horrified Wyn is on his behalf. Silent tears wet her face and she muffles the choking sobs that are starting up with her hands. It warms something cracked inside his soul how much she cares for him, that she mourns for what he'd lost. "I'm…so sorry I asked! That's…awful…"

"And uh…d-don't ask about _him_ please, I don't know or care if he's alive and well. I hope you never have the misfortune of meeting That Man. Nothing good would ever come of it, trust me."

She nods at that and grimaces. Troy wasn't even going to ask about her parents, he already knew. But he was surprised she never asked about Tyreen. Then again, his family situation was pretty shitty. Wyn probably didn't want to open more wounds for him. 

She's downtrodden as she jars up the concoction she had been working on, despite being proud of herself for making it correctly. As she hands it over to Troy she says, "So you don't have any family anymore…I'm sorry Troy…"

"What are you on about? Of course I have family!" At her confusion he elaborates, "Well…you and Vael are my family, aren't you?"

"Oh! Yes, of course we are. Always."

Wyn veritably glowed with happiness, and he shared in her soft smile over the reminder that they at least had each other.

* * *

He found himself absolutely bored. Having gone to check his drop points, and meeting up with his contacts just to walk away with nothing was frustrating. Zane was getting less and less jobs lately, and was unsure if it was from a lack of jobs, or if _he_ was becoming unmarketable. An Operative who was no longer marketable was a death sentence, he still had dues to pay to the Guild who had sponsored him, and the only way out of paying those dues was his head on a platter. 

Zane thought his head was too handsome to be removed from his equally handsome body, so there was no way he would allow himself to be Blacklisted. There had to be _something_ he could do to get decent scratch. 

And then as if his day hadn't been going badly enough, his fecking ex fling happened to cross his path. 

That whole thing had been a shite show from the beginning. He remembered how his sister had told him in one of the few conversations they'd had as adults, not to sleep around with crazy. 

Zane had ignored said advice, convinced he could suss out a crazy bird from a normal one. And then he met Delilah. And while red flags had been waving from the first few sentences of conversation, he was hooked on her red locks and cute face. She had an adventurous spirit and didn't care about what others thought about her. 

Which was because she didn't give a damn about anyone but herself. He was in trouble from the moment he stuck her with his prick. Apparently that's all it took for her to decide she owned him. Like a pet. Zane Flynt was many _many_ things, but he was no one's fecking pet! 

And here she was, wandering after him screeching about something or other. He was tuning her out and trying to plot a way to ditch her; he must really be getting old because he totally didn't see the blow to the back of his head coming. 

"AH!! Ye fecking geebag! What's got your panties in a twist, ya shite wagon!"

"What the fuck did you say to me?!"

"You heard me! Go be a brazen hussy elsewhere, I'm not interested."

"Are you crazy?! What makes you think you can just walk away after avoiding me you bastard?! Is there some other woman in the picture?! She can't compare to _me!_ "

"Oh indeed, no one can compare to you! _You_ are a gobdaw and a hoor! The sea wouldn't even give ya a wave!"

Zane found it quite satisfying, her face all red with anger and etched in confusion. He was incredibly irritated, nothing pissed him off quite like taking a blow at someone when their back was turned. It wasn't like he was a bandit that threatened her life, just her shite pride. Zane quietly seethes with justified anger, the rushing of blood in his head drowning out all ambient sounds, except for murmurs of a passerby on the street over. Or a couple of them, the murmuring getting louder as it got closer. He shifted somewhat so his back wasn't to the alleyway entrance.

There really isn't a chance to insult the crazy bint more before other people stumble upon the scene being played out. Great, last thing he wanted was an audience for this confrontation, the vague hope that the alley would be ignored, crushed like a varkid beneath one's boot. 

But he brightens up a bit when he recognizes the two. Looks like they had worked things out, as he hoped when flirting with the lass the other night. Sometimes all it took to get a bloke's head out of his arse, was another bloke making goo-goo eyes at his lady. Good for the boyo, no man should wander around looking like a lovesick skag pup, it was disgusting!

"I told you we took a wrong turn somewhere Troy, this isn't the way to the burger joint either."

"Need directions? I'd be happy to show you around."

"Mr. Flynt? Um, hello again. Yes, directions would be lovely, we seem to be…lost…"

"Do not ignore me!"

He closes his eyes and rubs them, not only irritated but now embarrassed at the harpy riding his ass. The other two stand there looking a bit stunned, eyes going wide at the obscenities being flung Zane's way. He only reacts when her decibels reach banshee levels, and everyone needs to cover their ears to prevent going deaf.

Digging into his hip pouch, Zane pulls out a smoke bomb and lobs it at Delilah's feet, then grabs onto the other two and books it out of the alley. They zigzag between buildings and pedestrians until finally stopping by the burger place, all slightly panting but not really winded. Zane found himself impressed with their stamina, especially because they both seemed to be better off than himself. Ah, to be young!

The young lady glared at him and he felt a sense of unease, thinking he saw a flash of something dark in her eyes. But…surely not, it must have been a trick of the light, right? Zane relaxed his stance around them, but inside he was fully alert, looking them both over with a keen eye and mentally documenting everything.

The boy was fit, clearly had had some sort of training. The way he held his body and distributed his weight screamed of someone who was a skilled fighter. The prosthetic he had was expensive, Zane recognizing the primary metal component as something he'd only ever seen on the black market. The CEO's of the corporations were probably the only ones who could afford it, a half-pound of it selling for close to five billion since it had been mined from a dwarf planet that had imploded on itself, and there was only about twenty pounds of the stuff in existence.

So how'd this guy get some? He wasn't the son of any higher ups, the Guilds had extensive files on _everyone_ and updated them frequently. Even the illegitimate brats, even the information on their _pets_ was in their personal files.

So who was this guy? Or this lass? Her look was unique, not quite pale enough to be labeled albino, but close enough. Zane couldn't get a good read on her, but something about her rang dangerous. When their eyes met, the hairs on his neck stood on end. Her body was constantly moving, even if she wasn't consciously aware of it. The distribution of weight was a constant shift, her muscles moving so fluidly it was like her body danced on it's own while she stood completely still. The lass could probably strike at a moment's notice, and her opponent would never be able to get a good read on her, see it coming.

It was inhuman. She wasn't human, couldn't be. He tuned out the two of them as they faced each other to speak, looking for any tiny details that would help identify them. The girl tucked some hair behind her ear, and he noticed almost the entire thing was decked out in small hoops. The first one in her lobe was a hoop with a dangling bit that ended with some sort of marble hanging from it. White gold metal if he had to take a guess, so somewhat pricey? But why a marble? It was a unique blend of aqua and a really bright red that shouldn't work together but somehow did, almost hypnotic the way the two colors swirled together.

The ring in the top of her cartilage was similar, platinum or titanium with a dangling chain. The end of that one is even more confusing than the marble. Some sort of strange crystal or rock and wiring had been bent and soldered into a loop on it. It seemed to be a pale pink color, but watching it Zane noticed that it slowly bled into different colors, going darker until it was a pale purple, transitioning into blues. It was like nothing he'd heard of before, but could be used to identify at least where she was from.

Zane snaps to attention when they both speak his name, turning up the suave charm to mask his observations, though the boy didn't seem convinced in the slightest, and had his own gleam that warned Zane that he himself had already been figured out.

_I will find out your secrets boyo, and I'll put a bullet in your brain if necessary._

**_I'd love to see you try._ **

* * *

She had absolutely no idea how they all ended up back at this bar, but here they were once again with Mr. Flynt drinking like fish out of water. At least she knew why the man was so insistent on getting them drunk. Troy had heard his mistrust of them and figured Flynt would try to get them drunk enough to talk, or at least get their guard down for an attack. There was no way she was letting that happen, so was subtly doing a semi-cleanse of their systems to keep them from being as drunk as they should be. 

He was suspicious of them, and very dangerous. Too bad for him they were too. And on top of being dangerous, Troy and Wyn were kind of assholes, in so much that she suggested they fuck with him as payback for being a suspicious dickbag.

How dare he try to figure them out?! The audacity! If he would stop being a sneaky douche they would have gladly told him about themselves. It's not like they had anything to hide.

And it's not like they couldn't put him down easily enough if he tried to stick a knife in their backs. Hell, Troy could make the man murder himself if he felt like it. But murder was bad.

**_It's not always bad y'know. Better him than us_ **

**_~True...still let’s see where this goes before committing to murdering him to death. He might not be that bad, he’s just thinking like his profession says he should~_ **

At least, that’s what she assumed his deal was. All the movies and books she’d seen or read about assassins claimed that they never got out of that mindset once they’d been living it for long enough. And if she had to guess, Flynt had been one for a long time. Much longer than what Wyn herself assumed.

He seemed impressed with their ability to hold liquor, obviously having forgotten that he was supposed to be interrogating them. In a way Wyn found it sort of adorable, watching this man lose himself to drunken giggles and exceedingly more elaborate stories of daring. It wasn’t as if anything had changed between them, Flynt and her, not exactly but...she held this intense feeling like she’d known him from some time before. It was fading at first, like a winged thing in an open flame. She had known it, and then she didn’t, but it surfaced again and again until she finally asked him. After all he was intruding on her life choices and it made her curious.

“Why me?”

“Why anybody?” Flynt hiccuped. He put another three fingers of Lagavulin Old in his face, the whiskey being something he’d had to have brought himself considering how rare and expensive it was. She wanted to stop him, she also didn’t. Wyn ended up saying “Because,” like it meant anything. There was something blaring in her brain, warning her she shouldn’t at the same time that she must.

“Eh, so I’ve gotten some girls, maybe a fella or two. It’s not important,” Zane said while swirling his glass, pondering something deep based on his expression. “Maybe one of them has lost their shite.”

By the tone his voice has taken, Wyn knew this has already happened. The banshee from the alleyway popped into her head and she took a shot of vodka to help burn away the memory of that angry woman. Instead she told him “Well, I’m not all that proud of you.”

“Why should ya be? I don’t know you two ways from Sunday lass.”

Wyn has no idea what has compelled her into the line of thinking that has hit her, probably the great amounts of alcohol she has consumed, and she hasn’t purged all of it yet. But her mouth runs away from her and she’s spouting nonsense before she’s even aware of it. “Well, usually fathers want their children to be proud of them, don’t they?”

Troy flinches a little next to her, but doesn’t say anything, doesn’t give away his thoughts on where she’s going with this. Instead he feeds her bits and pieces of what he’s picking up from Flynt to help her. Maybe this will be something they can all laugh over later, maybe it’ll end up being a cruel joke. Either way he has Wyn’s back over the guy that wants to kill them. Or _did_ until about three seconds ago when his brain stopped working.

“F-father?”

“Never mind it’s not important.” Wyn sneers while tossing back another shot. Part of her encourages the chaos that is waiting to break out, the other half berating her for teasing the man about his potential fatherhood. Said man looks absolutely lost, going from staring at her to staring into his glass like it would divine the answers he was seeking.

“Who…?”

“My mother is long gone, I’d rather not talk about her.”

“A-ah right, sorry lass.”

“Hnn...I’m sure you are…”

The awkward silence that hung between the three of them was palpable. Troy tossed back some more of the tequila he’d been sipping on just to give him something else to do but feel Flynt’s second-hand embarrassment. He catches snippets of the man trying to compare features of Wyn to his family, and apparently finding some that were similar enough that he believed her. Troy didn’t _think_ it was legit, he’d seen images in her head of the man who fathered her, but...maybe she just always assumed that man had been her dad. What if he wasn’t? It would make sense why he’d despised her so much. Many a man disliked raising someone else’s child after all.

**_~Not you though. Vael is lucky to have you~_ **

“How...did you find me?”

Wyn stares at Flynt hard, critical, giving him the impression she couldn’t care less. “I didn’t, it was a complete accident. And if I remember correctly you tried to kiss me. You should be more careful who you try to pick up in the future. How many illegitimate children do you have out there?”

“I wasn’t aware I had any.”

“Or you didn’t care enough to check on your flings afterwards. Mother wasn’t married to you so I’m afraid that won’t help you narrow anything down.”

He fidgets in his seat, playing with his drink instead of consuming it now. He’s feeling very guilty, that much is obvious. A million questions rest on his tongue, and Zane Flynt for once finds himself at a loss for words. Mouth opens and closes a few times before he clicks his tongue and finishes his whiskey in two large gulps.

“I’m sorry, really I am. If I had known about ya, I would’ve been there. Flynts always look out for their family, even when we don’t get along all that great! And besides, women are rare in the family! My sister is the first to be born in eight generations.”

“You have a sister?”

“Aye, and two brothers. It’s been ages since I’ve had contact with any of them, but I still get the occasional birthday surprise here and there.”

“Birthday surprise? Like what?”

“Well the last one I got from my brother was an assassin hired to take me out! Haven’t had that happen in years now, wonder what I did to tick him off?”

Troy is very deadpan while asking “So, you guys show your familial love by trying to kill each other? Why...is that not that surprising? Lemme guess, family is from Pandora?”

“Started out as a bandit clan long long ago.”

“And now?”

“Stiiiiiiill mostly made up of bandits. But! Occasionally we branch out into other ventures. Like me for instance. Or my sister, she’s a stock broker. What about you two? Are...well you obviously aren’t married…”

“And? So what if we aren’t?!” Wyn is highly offended and Flynt, erm _Zane_ is quick to try and defuse the situation.

“It’s not a bad thing! Do whatever you want! I mean, you don’t need my permission to live your life, you’re already doing that, I was just curious is all! Does he treat you alright? Are you happy? Do you get enough to eat? Wha--”

“Okay okay, knock it off! Geez, so weird asking so much suddenly. Yes he treats me alright, he’s perfect actually. Yes I’m happy and yes I eat enough. Why do you care?”

“Oh well I...umm...aren’t I supposed to?”

“No. Look I was kidding about being your kid. Truth is I don’t have a family and I shouldn’t be teasing you about yours. That was a dick thing to do, but you’re sitting there thinking about how to go about killing us and it was irritating.”

“Ah! Well, you sure got me, I’ll give ya that one!” Zane seems jovial and relieved, but Troy can feel that there’s a twinge of disappointment too. It leaves him feeling awful, and he passes that on to Wyn, he would not be the only one to suffer the other man’s sadness himself.

“I hurt you…”

“Nah, don’t worry your pretty head over it, I’m fine!” Zane sniffles a little while stealing Wyn’s vodka and drinking it all down in a matter of moments. “It’s fine, really! Zane Flynt doesn’t need anything tying him down after all! I’m an Operative and will be until the day I die! And I plan on going down in a blaze of glory, not in my sickbed surrounded by loving children and grandchildren! Baah!”

She snags his whiskey since he’s absconded with her alcohol and gone on a rant over the many ways one can die honorably in battle. Pouring some for both herself and Troy, Wyn salutes him with the glass and a grimace and gulps it down in a similar manner to Zane. Troy follows suit, wanting to get rid of his guilt.

Another two hours of the three drowning their feelings in burning booze helps to switch the mood around though. Now that he no longer has the desire to kill the two of them, they have no problem sharing details of their lives. Zane is affronted to learn they both came from abusive backgrounds, moreso Wyn’s own since Troy wasn’t very forthcoming about his life yet. He finds it outrageous that her parents were so cruel to her, and proclaims that if he’d been her father she would have been treated like a princess.

“Then why don’t you just be her dad dude?” Troy asks with a chortle. Zane joins in, leaning heavily on him and gasping for air. Wyn however looks thoughtful, and that puts the men on alert.

“I mean, it’s not the most ridiculous thing ever suggested y’know. Adult adoptions are a thing, rare though they are.”

“Baah, you’re just pulling my leg girl! There’s no way we can do that, besides where would we go to do the paperwork, especially at this hour?”

“We can, and I know just the place. The nice thing about being diplomats is me and Troy can get into places. And I know a guy who’s good with tech and deals with paperwork all day.”

“You don’t mean--”

“Yup.”

“Ah man, do we have to see his stupid face again?!”

“I want a dad Troy, so yes!”

“Oh ho, love drama? Do I need to destroy a man for going after my little girl?”

“Rich punk who’s weak as shit, so no don’t worry about him.”

“Tee hee hee! Tell me more boyo!”

The stupidity follows her out of the bar and onto the street. Walking is sort of difficult because the world is spinning too much and the drunk assholes behind her keep falling over and pulling the other one down with him, but finally they reach their destination. All three groan while looking up the skyscraper, imagining climbing all those stairs. Not having an appointment meant they wouldn’t be getting a keycard to work the elevators. Once they sneak into ATLAS HQ though, Zane is able to show off his skills and swipe a keycard from the security office even while stumbling around and hitting his hips on table corners. He’s far too proud of himself and cocky when returning to where Troy and Wyn sat waiting, swinging the card around and chuckling about how easy it was. They give a little cheer and bow before his brilliance, the dreaded stairs thwarted. So much laughter and loud shushing noises nearly gets them caught several times, but by some miracle the three disasters end up in the elevator that takes them to the CEO’s suite and crack up once it begins its ascent.

And that’s how Rhys’ evening of catch-up-on-neglected-paperwork-before-you’re-chewed-out was interrupted. He sighs heavily at the cheerful “Buttercup!” that the three clearly drunk office wreckers sang his way, and discreetly hid the documents in a locked drawer at his desk.

“And what do I owe for this visit to my office at one o’clock in the morning?”

“Buttercup! Just the guy we wanted to see! Me and the girlie needta get hitched!”

“Ew, no! Adopted!”

“Right right, me and the girlie need to get adopted!”

“Noooooo, try again.”

“Erm, she needs to adopt me?”

“Hahahaha! Dude then you’d be her son! Weird, so weird!”

“Can you help us fill out and file paperwork Rhys?” Wyn asks with amused exasperation, rolling her eyes at the two men with a clear fondness. Rhys shrugs and finds documents in the system for adoption, (why do they even have this, aren’t they a tech company?!) and fills out what he needs to on his end. Wyn takes the pen from him when he hands it over and concentrates hard on filling in blank spaces. Zane gets serious for the two minutes it takes him to do his part, then is back to being a nuisance once all is said and done.

“Alright, it’s filed and will most likely be approved tomorrow morning, is there anything else?”

“Umm, yeah can...can you file this one too?” Troy asks shyly while digistructing some papers and handing them over. Rhys doesn’t bother to look at them, just puts them in the processing file with the other documents, but does see Wyn’s reaction and wonders what could make her start bawling so hard. Maybe it was whatever she’d been drinking just making her emotional.

“Alright, you three can leave now. I’m busy and tired.”

“Nonsense! I got me a new daughter, this calls for a celebration! Join us ya damn prude and live a little, you look like you’ve never been out from behind a desk in yer life!”

“I’ll have you know I’ve had a very adventurous life, thank you very much!”

“Great! Tell us all about it over drinks, on me!”

“Aren’t you wasted enough?!” Rhys can’t help but squeak as he’s manhandled out of the room and into the elevator. They look at him like he’d just asked if they’d drown a puppy for him, and Zane pats him on the head with pity. “I don’t want to get drunk! I don’t like alcohol!”

“Because you’re a wimp who can’t hoooold his liquor!” Troy sings in his ear with the biggest shit-eating grin Rhys had ever seen. He automatically bristles and glares at the much taller man, knowing a challenge when it’s thrown his way.

“Oh we’ll see about that!”

“I’m dragging you all back to the hotel room, food sounds nice and we have a tv there.” Wyn grumbles seemingly to herself, the guys all too busy heckling one another to hear her. Still, they’re good little ducklings and follow her wherever she goes, even trying to follow her into the bathroom once they’re back at the room, though that is quickly shot down with her smacking all three of them and ordering that food be delivered on pain of death.

All in all the night ends with everyone dogpiled onto the plush carpet in front of the tv, a stupid rom-com playing that has all of them booing over the plot line and a trashed Rhys sobbing over how sad it is that the hero and heroine were seperated by a cruel twist of fate. Waking the following morning with the sun had the four agreeing that they wouldn’t speak of how undignified they all had ended up, and Troy and Wyn happy that they now had some new friends to brag about once they got home.

It was a weekend away well spent, and was worth it. Even with the hell that was probably awaiting them when they returned to Athenas, there weren’t regrets, except leaving Zane behind as they boarded their ship back. He promised to keep in touch though, and they promised to hold him to that. After all, he had a grandchild to meet, and their ship left the dock with Zane crying loudly over having a grandson now, him still a bit drunk from the nightly shenanigans from before.


End file.
